Chester 'B'
by kathey'ssis
Summary: Captain Hank Stanley can say a lot about his lineman, he's good at his job and reliable in the clinches but is he ready for another one?
1. Chapter 1

I don't own any body at Station 51, I don't even own the station, but I do enjoy inviting them out to play on a regular basis.

I said I would never dump three stories on the web sight again and I won't but this one has been begging to be told for some time and I'm right now in need of a little humor in my life. Please forgive, I promise to finish After the honeymoon and get on the sequel to 'Where do I begin' just let me get my laughs in a little.

I'll admit what I intend to put in this story is a bit of a stretch but I have seen things that are just as amazing and hope you readers can just enjoy.

Chester "B"

It was just another brush fire. The second one that day and just like the first and the six the previous crew had reported from the day before it was believed to be started by kids playing with fireworks. Only this time it was believed that the children were still trapped somewhere in the flames. The wind was blowing the grass was dry and the men's hearts and stomachs were in their throats with fear for the three missing kids.

Station 51's assignment was fire suppression, there was another unit assigned to work along with the sheriff's department to search for the kids. Still the parents were being contained in an incident van that was parked near Squad 51 and the firefighters there could easily see them and the panic in their faces as they watched the fire suppression efforts and prayed for their children to be found alive and not severally burned.

Even above the sound of the engines and the crackling of the fire, louder it seemed than the radio's public address system the sound of a barking dog pulled at the men's attention. Although they were commanded to remain on the hoses or at the pumps each man wanted to drop what they were doing and run to the sound of the dog, it had to be the kid's dog and if it was barking there was hope.

"Truck 18, battalion 16, we have the kids, they were up a tree on the north end of the fire. Dispatch paramedics to check them out." Was heard over the PA and every firefighter on sight let out a deep sigh and was able to put a renewed effort into getting that fire out.

There weren't a lot of needs for paramedics on these kinds of brush fires so there was only one unit sent out. The second the announcement was completed Captain Hank Stanley made the PA work for his own orders, "Gage, DeSoto, report to truck 18."

Their hose was shut down so that it wouldn't whip around and laid on the ground for the next firefighters to pick it up and their feet carried them as quickly and as sure footedly as they could to the squad. Hank watched as the next two firefighters a couple of men form station 28 picked up the hose and started dosing the fire then turned to see the dust from the squad's tires as it raced the hundred yards down the road.

When John and Roy pulled up next to truck 18 the third child a boy about 12 was being carried down the ladder as the rest of the crew watched over and entertained two other boys that were sitting on the tail board. One boy was wearing a firemen's helmet and the other boy was getting his face licked by a rather large dog.

John took in the charred area around the tree trunk and the placement of the ladder in the branches. He hoped the height of the top of that ladder meant the boys had been able to escape any serious burns.

Roy was preparing to fight the dog for access to his patient when the dog gave a quick but quiet yap then stepped back and sat quietly.

"That's a good dog you have there," Roy commented as he sat his drug box down and started to look over the two boys. He could see some mild burns on their hands and a few scraps here and there but most of all he could hear their coughing and knew the boys had taken in a little smoke.

"He's not my dog Mister," The boy responded. "But I sure wish he was. He found us and then went and got the firemen and showed them where we were."

"Yeah," the other boy exclaimed, "He's really some dog, even better than Lassie. If he's a stray I'm sure my Mom and Dad will let me keep him, I can tell them that he'll help keep track of me."

"Well I see a collar around his neck and tags on him," Johnny announced as he carried the third boy over and sat him down, "he must belong to somebody."

Johnny helped Roy get some oxygen on each of the boys, borrowing an extra oxygen tank from the ladder truck to have enough, he then started cleaning up a couple of scrapes to get a better look at them. Every little while he would turn to check on the dog.

It was a large dog, mostly black and looked to be at least partially Labrador. There was a blaze white section on his chest one white paw and several, maybe half a dozen or a few more, John didn't have the time to count, white spots on his body one on his neck a couple on his shoulder the rest on his hind quarters. One foot looked to be deformed slightly like the dog had recovered from some kind of a burn but John wasn't sure nor did he have time to really look the dog over.

"This Dog looks like it could really use a drink of water," Roy commented to a fireman who was hovering around him trying to be of help. The man didn't say anything but quickly found a paper cup of water and proceeded to pour it in his hand for the dog to lap up.

Both paramedics managed to notice how the dog watched everything that was taking place carefully and wondered if he were rescue trained.

"Yap," the dog startled them with a quick bark as he jumped and ran off. John stood and tried to call him back but soon just watched as the dog ran to the battalion Chief who was in command and jumped at him to get his attention before standing on all four paws at his side and giving a point in a direction away from the fire.

John followed the dog's point with his eyes and noticed that sparks from the main fire has floated over and started another patch of dried grass into a small but growing blaze.

"Engine 51, Battalion 16 there's a start behind you get some men on it quickly," Was heard over the PA system and Roy stood, turning his attention away from his patients to see what was going on.

"That is some dog." John replied and both medics turned back to their work.

The three boys and their mother's were taken to the hospital in two different ambulances but their injuries were not bad enough for the paramedics to need to accompany them so they went back to work on putting out the fire and the amazing dog was soon forgotten.

00000

Two hours later the squad backed into the station and two paramedics raced for the shower hoping to be done before the engine returned. Five minutes later the engine backed into it's parking spot and four very tired firemen slowly moved from their seats and started pealing off their sweaty turn out gear.

"Attention all trucks that worked the Alamosa park fire, please check your trucks for a missing dog and report back." Was heard over the radio and everyone first looked at each other like the dispatcher's elevator wasn't making it to all floors.

"Alright men" Captain Hank Stanley shook his head. "You heard the man, check the engine over for a missing dog."

Chet and Marco climbed back up in their seats to take a good look over the hose bed as Mike checked out the front bumper and a compartment there where nozzles and attachments were kept. Hank started toward the tailboard and the spaces there where a dog might rest.

As soon as Hank stepped around the back of the engine he was greeted by a quick bark and a wagging tail. Four firemen soon at his side, the fifth was still in the shower, looked the dog over and smiled.

"LA, this is Engine 51, found your missing dog here." Hank spoke into the handy talkie in his hand. "What do you want us to do with it?"

"10-4 51 Stand by," was the reply from dispatch and one paramedic was cautiously testing the waters to see if the dog would allow him to pet his ears.

"This is the dog that found those kids." John commented as he gained permission to rub the soot covered ears. "Good dog."

"Station 51, stand by for call on the land line," the dispatcher instructed.

"We'll John since your showered why don't you go get him some water while I find out what they want us to do with, is it a him or a her?" Hank instructed.

"It's a him sir." John responded before making the move to follow orders. "Come on boy let's get you some water."

John moved toward the kitchen expecting the dog to follow but the dog stayed on the tail board giving his full attention to Captain Stanley.

Confused by the dog attention toward himself, Hank took a moment before he pointed toward John, "Go on, Go with John and he'll get you something to drink." Hank said then started thinking where he could find something to use as a leash to pull him off the engine until his owner came for him. To his surprise his command was received with a quick bark and the dog jumped off the tail board and followed John who then led him to the kitchen and found the largest bowl he could to fill with water for the dog.

The remaining men looked on in amazement.

"I guess he knows who the Captain is." Chet commented with a smirk.

The dog drank from the bowl as if it was dying of thirst and paid no attention to any of the men that were gathering around it. Even Roy was in the kitchen now informing them that the shower was waiting for the next person. "Where did he come from?"

"It seams that he hitched a ride back on the engine," Mike answered.

By the time the dog had finished off the water in the bowl a giggling captain was coming from his office to inform the rest of the men what the game plan was.

"Well his babysitter is on her way over to get him." Hank started and the men listened because they wanted to know what was so funny. "Seems this fellow is a trained and registered Fire Dog out of Oregon. His master is at a convention in the area and his sister was watching the dog for him while he's attending the lectures. She just happened to be taking the dog for a walk in the park when fire broke out and the dog responded to the call of duty. She was separated from him by the police who were trying to keep the spectators out but watched after she heard that there were boys missing.

The owner just happens to be a friend of the chief's so I said we'd watch him till the lady comes to pick him up. She should be here is about ten minutes."

"So he's trained to do what he did today," John's amazement continued to show.

"Did they happen to tell you the Dog's name?" Roy questioned, "Or do we just keep saying 'Good-boy' till he's picked up."

Hank's grin grew larger and a giggle escaped his lips. "Men, you're not going to believe this but allow me to introduce you to Chester B."

"What!" one two legged Chester B exclaimed with all the facial expressions appropriate to his surprise showing from behind his mustache.

"I kid you not," Hank declared, "I had them repeat it three times to make sure."

After a moment of stunned silence the men of station 51 joined in with their captain's laughter and both Chesters got their share of petting and back slapping.


	2. Chapter 2

Chester 2

As soon as the four legged Chester B had finished his bowl of water Captain Stanley had a few commands to give.

"With as much water as he just lapped up someone better take him out side for a moment." No one said a word but every eye in the station was on the two legged Chester B.

"Come on boy," the two legged Chet called out, "Let's go for a walk. I don't think anyone but me could understand just how great you are."

The dog made no move so Chet, the two legged one, slapped at his leg and whistled slightly. The Dog just turned to Captain Stanley.

"Go ahead boy," Hank moved his head in the other Chet's direction and the dog gave a short quick bark and followed the two legged Chet out the door.

"That short bark of his must be his way of saying 10-4," Hank scoffed as he watched the dog Chet follow the man Chet out the door. "That dog was running around across some burnt out grasses at the last fire, when they get back, John and Roy I want you to look over his paws good and make sure he doesn't have any burns."

"Sure Cap," John answered for the both of them and moved toward the squad to get a tube of burn cream out of the glove compartment just in case they needed it.

A few minutes later the two legged Chet opened the door and stepped back to allow his four legged namesake to enter back into the common room the dog took stopped just inside and while Johnny was talking to him and moving in to check out his paws when the dog moved into the bay and quickly found the captain's office and with out command lay down on the floor at the side of the captain's chair.

John and Roy followed and stood in the doorway looking.

"What's going on here?" Cap questioned as he looked down at his new rug.

"My guess is that he is taught to follow the captain's command," John responded.

"Do you mind if we check his paws out in there?" Roy inquired.

Hank scoffed and reached down to scratch the dog's ears, "Good boy, now let these guys look at your feet. Okay?"

John snickered at his captain's insecurity and knelt down next to the dog. First he offered his hand for the dog to sniff then he pet the dogs head and moved his hand down the neck to the shoulders and form their down to the dogs feet. By the time the dog quickly moved it's paw out of Johnny's hand Johnny could see the blister of a second degree burn on the dogs pads.

"This should help that just a little there, , Chet ol boy." Johnny calmly chattered as he squoose some cream on his fingers and then placed it on the bottom of the dogs paw. "This cream has a topical anesthetic in it that will take the pain out." John explained as he just held the dog's paw and watched until he stopped pulling away from him.

"Roy," John began to request, "I think we better get some gauze and a roll of two inch Kerlex. He's also got burns on both of his back feet and I haven't seen the other front paw yet. From the look of the one back paw, he's been burned before, a lot worse than anything he's got now."

Roy kept back and handed John the supplies he asked for and soon the four legged firefighter had four bandaged paws and the deep respect of every other fire fighter in that station.

Roy had just returned the trauma box back to the squad when the sound of screeching breaks, honking horns and crumpling metal echoed from the street in front of the station. Two fire fighters raced out the office door while a third ran into the bay and slapped the bay door button. The captain, with a four legged shadow, with four bandaged paws, took hold of the radio and called in, "Station 51 a silent alarm auto accident in front of the station."

The trauma box, drug box and the bio-phone were grabbed from the squad and the fire engine pulled out of the bay and into the street to block off traffic.

"Alright Marco you help Roy with the front Car Chet you're with John on the back car," Hank called out and watched as both Chet's trotted off behind the dark haired paramedic.

The accident was caused when a car was trying to make a left hand turn into the station parking lot and was hit by a car going straight. The driver of the car going straight had been slightly distracted by her two children who were fighting in the back seat. The two Children were basically unharmed; John was sure the bruise on the little girl's arm was caused by her brother's doubled up fist but he couldn't prove it.

"Chet, they seem to be alright can you get them out and take care of them until the ambulance get's here." John instructed and moved to care for the driver as he watched the two Chet's work on the children.

The Human Chet first lifted the little girl out of the car and sat her down on her feet. "Alright sweetheart you stand right there till I get your brother and then we'll all go take a close look at that big red fire engine over there okay."

Once the human Chet climbed back in the car to undue the seat belt on the second child the canine Chet gently lay his head on the little girl's shoulder and allowed her to wrap her arms around his neck for her comfort and security.

Hank had just used the handy talkie to order two ambulances and police assistance when he heard his name called.

"Cap, Cap can you come here for a moment." Roy called while still holding pressure on a cut over the driver's eye and holding her head stable since she was saying that her neck was hurting and her arm was numb.

"What do you need Roy?" Cap called out as he stepped up to his paramedic's side.

"Marco is getting the equipment and the back board Cap. "This is the woman who was coming to pick up our extra Chester."

Cap stood up straight and looked around, suddenly he understood why the woman had been trying to make a left hand turn into their parking lot. "I guess we're going to need to watch after him for a while longer." Cap commented to the woman behind the wheel. It wasn't hard to see that she was going to need to go to Rampart and be checked over. "I was told that you were watching the dog for your brother, is there a way for us to get in touch with him?"

"Yes there is, it won't be easy but he's at a convention that's being held in Anaheim the fire chief I talked to at the fire, the one that found out Chester was here and told me how to get here, he said he knew Roger and all about the convention. Roger is one of the speakers."

Marco arrived with the c-collar and the half back board and the three men worked together to get the woman immobilized and removed from the car. Then Cap squatted down near her head to keep the sun out of her eyes while they waited for the ambulance to arrive.

"I'd tell you to call my husband to come get the dog but he and my husband don't get along, Mitch only agreed to let me take him if I made sure the two of them were never in the same room together."

"I'm sure the Chief can help us make connections with your brother and the dog hasn't been any trouble so far. I'm told he's a trained fire dog."

"Yes he is, that's why I loaned him to the police when they said that there were boys lost and possibly in the fire area earlier today."

"He did a real good job of finding them, my men bandaged up his feet a little, seems he got some minor burns."

"If you're going to keep him for a while you better have his uniform and leash and things." The woman explained. By now she was so tied down that she couldn't turn her head so she just explained for the Captain to get into the trunk and take out the duffel bag that looked like it was made out of a turn out coat.

Once Roy was able to take his place at protecting the woman's eyes from the sun Hank did as he had been instructed and taking the keys from the ignition he opened the trunk and found the duffel bag he was directed to. Carrying it back to the woman's side he showed it to her and asked if it was the right one.

"Yes that's it. His shoes are in there to protect his feet and his coat and hat specially designed for him. There's also an instruction book to tell you what he's trained to do and what commands to use if you need him."

"I don't plan to take him with us on any runs ma'am; I don't want to be responsible for him getting hurt while he's in our care." Hank explained, "But we can tie him up at the station until his master comes."

"From what Rodger tells me that might not work so well but you do what you think is best," the woman talked as the first ambulance came onto the scene. "It sounded like your chief was a good friend of Roger's, maybe he'll take him. I'm so sorry; I've made a royal mess of everything."

"Don't worry about it Ma'am, we'll take care of Chester B. you take care of yourself," Cap assured the women as she was being loaded in the ambulance. After shutting the door and giving the ready to go slaps. Hank's attention was drawn back to his engine.

"Mom!" Hank heard and turned to see the temporary Chester sitting on a little boy while a little girl had one arm around the dog's neck and two fingers from her other hand in her mouth."

"What's going on here?" Captain Stanley walked up to his engineer who had just finished pulling battery cables and was now grabbing a pry bar to help get the two children's mother out of the car.

"Johnny asked Chet to take care of the children but he didn't say which Chet so 'he's' doing it." Mike said with the biggest grin on his face. "The boy there keeps hitting his sister, but it looks like Chet found a way to stop him."

Cap rolled his eyes and waved Mike on with the pry bar then proceeded to take charge of the two children namely the one under the dog.

Once John had the driver of the other car packaged and ready to go it was decided that the boy would ride up front with an extra seat belt to hold him down while his little sister rode in the back with her mother and away from her abusive brother. As Hank lifted her into the back of the ambulance she began to cry because Chester, the four legged one, wasn't going with her.

Captain Stanley was ready to yell at Chet and ask him to drive the squad in but suddenly had visions of the dog behind the wheel so he yelled for Marco instead. While Chet, the permanent one, and Mike helped direct the tow trucks in clearing away the damaged cars Hank called the dog to his side and with his duffel bag in his hand headed for his office to give the Chief a call for instructions concerning his temporary Chester.


	3. Chapter 3

Chester 3

When the Squad backed into the bay they noticed the chief in the office with their captain. Chief McConnike was sitting on the corner of the desk talking on the phone while Captain Stanley sat in his chair listening in on half of the conversation while reaching down on a regular basis to give the dog's ears a scratch.

As soon as the doors to the squad opened Cap hollered, "Gage, can you come here please."

John stepped into the open door way with both hands on the door jam.

"Rodger Jackson, wants to know how his sister is doing," Chief McConnike handed the phone in John's direction, "and then he wants to talk medical treatment for his pup here."

"This is firemen paramedic John Gage," Johnny answered the phone. "Yes we took the best of care of your sister, she's having some trouble with her neck," "Apparently she's had some neck surgery that their worried about, they're going to keep her in the hospital for a while and put her in traction to see if they can alleviate some of the pain she was in." "She's at Rampart General in Room 510,"

"Yes he has some mild second degree burns on the pads of his feet. Old Chester B here is one amazing dog, to have found the boys like he did and stick with them until they were able to get them down and then he sat with two of the boys to keep them calm until we could work on 'em, then he ran over and jumped at the chief and pointed out a flair up behind the fire line."

"Yeah, yeah, Okay just a minute." Johnny turned around and looked at his captain. "Where is the dog's duffel bag?"

Hank handed John the bag and Johnny went directly for a pocket on the side digging out a couple of tubes of medicine. "This is same stuff I put on him earlier, , , are you sure the shoes won't irritate the burns. Humph, Okay I'll give the phone back to Chief McConnike."

Johnny stepped out of the office with an amazed look on his face,

"What's going on?" Roy asked once John met up with him at the side of the squad.

"They've gotten a hold of our newest Chester B's daddy; he wanted to know how his sister was doing and what cream I treated the dog's feet with. It's the same stuff his Vet prescribes for the dog."

"Dose the dog get burns on his feet often?" Roy was surprised, "I've never met a dog that didn't run from fire."

"You have now," John responded again amazed, "the back paw that I thought was burned before; he got that while pulling a man out of a burning building by his turn out coat. That's why he has special fire proof shoes for the dog, and a special turn out coat too."

"You've got to be kidding,"

"That's what the guy just told me." Jonny shrugged his shoulders, "The dogs got the burn scars to prove it."

"So what are we going to do with the dog?" Chester B, the two legged, asked, finally daring to step out of the kitchen.

"I don't know," Johnny responded before leaning against the compartments of the squad, "I think that's what their trying to decide now."

Two cups of coffee later their Captain and their Chief walked into the kitchen together along with the captains four lagged shadow. But there was something different about the shadow this time. His tail was going so fast it served as an instant fan.

"It looks to me that someone was told he was going to get ice cream," Roy commented with eyes on the dog. "You must have let him talk to his master over the phone."

The two superiors turned to look at their newest charge and then at each other and smirked. "That he did," the Captain responded, "it was fun to listen to him woof and yap while I held the phone to his ear."

"From what I've heard and some of what I've already known," the Chief took over the conversation, "I think what we really have here is a fire fighter in a dog costume. You should have seen how the pooch here perked up when we told him he was going on duty."

"On Duty?" four of the five other fire fighters questioned in unity, the fifth just raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah," the Chief continued as Hank Stanley rubbed his jaw with his hand, "it seems that this fellow has been known to do himself injury if he's tied up and can't respond to an alarm. Rodger is one of the speakers at the convention he's at and really can't pick him up till tomorrow morning and none of us in the decision process want to put him in a shelter where he'll be kept in a cage. Headquarters has approved, so we're treating the situation as a cross training exercise."

"The Chief's stood us down for fifteen minutes so we need to hurry." Captain Stanley spoke once the chief gave him the go a head look. "John you seemed to understand the special bandages he needs under his shoes can you and Roy go get his duffel off my desk and get him a locker then help him into his uniform."

"He has a uniform?" John questioned but the whole station turned stunned stairs at their captain.

"I kid you not, he has a uniform, complete with a badge and turn out gear," Hank confirmed.

"A badge?" John again questioned.

"A Badge," Hank confirmed, "Real and official. Now let's get him situated. Mike, let's you and I go figure out where he's going to ride on the engine. I don't want him on the tail board we can't see him if he were to fall off."

The Captain and Engineer left the room with a four legged shadow and a chief bringing up the rear. John and Roy headed for the office to retrieve the duffel bag and then stopped by the engine on the way to the locker room.

"Come on boy let's go get you dressed," John called.

The dog wagged his tail and danced on his paws but his eyes were on the Captain and soon so were the eyes of two smiling paramedics.

Scoffing and shaking his head Hank looked at the dog. "GO with them and get into uniform." He pointed in the direction of the locker room, "Or I'll put a reprimand in your file," Hank added with a laugh for good measure.

There was a quick Yap and the dog was at Johnny's side and the three of them were off to the locker room.

"Watch out for that tail partner, he's whipping it so fast it just might do damage," Roy joked as they moved.

In the locker room John removed the bandages he had applied earlier and after applying more cream applied a tube type of bandage that closely resembled socks; he then reached into the bag on the bench at his side and found four of the most unusual shoes he had ever seen.

"It's a good thing these are labeled or I might get them on the wrong feet." John commented as he looked at the tag on the inside of each shoe.

John and Roy worked together to get the four shoes on and encouraged the dog to walk around some to make sure they had them on right. Then came the uniform. It was blue like their own, but was more of a vest that slipped over the dog's back with straps that went over his shoulders and under his chest then had to be buckled into place. And yes there was a badge, all silver and shinny and attached near the left shoulder just off the side of the neck and it identified the dog as a certified firefighter.

"This must be like dressing one of your kids," Johnny commented as he fumbled to work his buckle.

"This is what it's like to dress one of my kids after I've told them I'm gong to take them to the park." Roy clarified, "I can't get over how excited he is."

"Yeah," Johnny gave one of the biggest crocked grins he had to offer, "He must really love his job."

The sound of four shoes walking on the bay floor sounded unusual enough to pull every eye in the station to the thigh high uniformed firefighter coming up the side of the Engine.

"Fire fighter Chester B reporting for duty," Johnny called out for the canine since he couldn't talk but he did follow up with three short quiet barks.

"I guess he seconds that motion," Hank smiled at his newest crewmember.

"Well I'll be," Mike exclaimed at the sight before him.

"This is some turn out coat he has," Roy commented as he held it out for the Captain to take. "He has his own helmet too."

"While I was talking with Rodger he said that they keep the coat on the deck between the two linemen, the dog is trained to step into the four sleeves with each foot and then the linemen work together to pull it up and fasten in on top of his back while in route."

The first Chester and his side kick Marco stepped up to see what it was that they were going to be responsible for and marveled at the design. "It's like a bag with sleeves," Marco replied, "It even has handles on it."

"Rodger had them do that so he could carry him out if they needed to." The Chief added, this was like the child of a friend of his. In fact the Chief sounded a lot like a proud grandpa.

"In case you guys haven't figured out yet the dog is trained to take commands from the Captain so you won't need to worry much about telling him to do anything," the Chief added.

"Yeah but I need help remembering. If the dog has been in the turn out for any time at all he needs to have it taken off and be hosed down to cool him off before we get back on the engine. Please help me remember that I really don't want to give this guy back a sick dog in the morning."

"Yes Cap," echoed through the bay, as two firemen worked to get the remaining turn out ready for the next call.

They were still trying to decide how to lay the coat out when the tones sounded, "Engine 51 trash fire behind the Arcade 2416 Alameda, 2416 Alameda."

With awe struck gazes seven firefighters watched at the eighth hopped up on the engine and started working his paws into the sleeves of his coat as he worked his nose through the strap to his helmet.

Showing pride in his namesake Chet gave Marco a quick slap on the shoulder and called, "Here we go."

The rest of the men took their places and two paramedics and a chief watched the engine roll into action in all its glory.

00000

Captain Stanley noticed a grater amount of smoke rising from behind the Arcade as the Engine moved through the parking lot to get behind the building. Mostly he was pleased to see people in arcade uniforms and a few security guards corralling all the patrons in a safe section of the parking lot. As they pulled around the blind corner of the building all firefighters on the engine took in the sight of flames rising from the three dumpsters placed close together and licking at the edge of the roof overhang above them. His main concern was the arches coming from the electrical wires over head.

Swinging out of the cab of the engine Cap noticed his men were jumping into action to. "Marco pull the reel line, Chet pull an inch in a half," Cap commanded, "Mike better mule a line back to the hydrant I think we're going to need the extra water. I'll take care of getting the power cut."

With that Captain Stanley raced for the power shut off and just for an extra measure also shut off the gas. Before noticing that the flames were beginning to respond to the water being poured on them.

That's when he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see a huge grin on his engineer's face.

"Did you want me to charge both lines?" Mike asked, and when Cap looked confused Mike pointed to the second length of hose lying on the ground with a turn out coat clad dog holding the connection joint in his mouth.

"He pulled that?" Hank questioned in total amazement.

"Yep," Mike answered still smiling, "does he know how to put it back?"

That's when Cap got a glimpse of a group of boys moving in for a closer look at the fire, letting out an attention getting whistle Cap gave another command that he remembered from the instruction manual that came with his newest crew member, "Chester, Crowd control."

Hank truly felt to blame as he watched Chester B Kelly look at him in confusion and fumble with his hose nearly getting hit in the head with the nozzle as Chester B, the canine pranced off to the fringe of the fire scene and with confidence and an authoritative bark managed to get the sight seers to back of to a safe distance and by running back and forth from one end of the crowd to the other kept them there.

Looking back at Chester B Kelly, now once again in full control of his hose and performing his duties with his usually proficiency, Hank recalled the advice in his training to call his men by their last name to avoid confusion in the heat of the crisis. It was just a rule of thumb and every good captain knew there were exceptions in practice. Once he only used his men's last names at a fire, but it didn't take long at his command to feel of them all as brothers and all of his men now responded quickly to any command given to either their first or last name. He would need to be a little more careful for the time being, now that he had two Chester Bs under his command.

As the fire was brought under control Cap remembered, this time, to command 'Kelly' to overhaul the dumpsters while Marco was assigned to get he roof ladder and make sure there were no embers still smoldering on the roof.

"I'll put the extra hose away Cap," Mike offered.

"NO you go help Marco," Hank instructed, "I'll put the hose away, if I clean up after my mistakes I might remember to give commands that aren't so confusing to my crew members."

Mike fought but failed to refrain from giggling at his captain's remark and he with a smile jogged off to do as he was told.

-0-

Just before the fire crew climbed back on the engine they all noticed the heavy panting of their newest team member and remembered that he needed to be cooled down before they left. Working together Marco and Kelly peeled the turn out coat from their newest brother and eased it over his custom made shoes before Mike used the reel hose to soak him down only pausing to ask if his uniform needed to be removed also.

"NO it is designed to hold enough moisture to finish cooling him down and dries quickly." Hank informed.

It was Chester Kelly that knelt down in front of the new crew member and cupped his hands for Mike to fill them with water for the other Chester to drink.

Hank looked on with pride in the concern and report that was being demonstrated by his crew. His heart filled with pride in all of his men and a little emotion was threatened to sneak out.

As proud and as humble as he was Hank just couldn't resist, he stepped up to his original Chester and clapped a hand on his shoulder, "Good boy."


	4. Chapter 4

Chester 4

Hank instructed his engineer to stop at a grocery story on their way back to the station so that he could buy the special dog food that was recommended by the Temporary Chester's master. He only got a small bag because that was all that would be needed until the next morning when Rodger Jackson would be reclaiming his four legged friend.

The Engine was backed into the bay and five firefighters climbed off their rig each one making sure their turn outs were properly placed for the next call. Chet Kelly, and Marco Lopez looked on in amazement as a small odd shaped helmet was sat down and nudged into just the right place then a long nose was used to make sure each of the four sleeves were in just the right place before the four legged team member jumped down from the engine.

"We drink Coffee after a fire, what does he get," Marco asked and the team walked together into the kitchen.

"Dog food and water," Cap responded as he carried the bag to the kitchen and found an older bowl to pour some of it into. He then made sure the water bowl was sufficiently full. Hank deliberately leaned against the wall sipping on his coffee letting the dog eat and drink his fill. When the dog stopped eating and came over sitting in front of him and giving the captain his full attention, Hank with out a word walked outside with the dog at his heals and when the dog had completed his business and was cleaned up after using the empty bread sack his men were about to throw away, Hank went back to his desk and the dog was once again laid down on the floor.

Hank sat with his paperwork on his desk and his pen in his hand but his focus was on the dog resting at his side. From what he had seen this was some dog indeed but it wasn't his dog and he feared of giving a command that would get him hurt or worse before his true owner reclaimed him.

The tones broke his thoughts. "Station 51, Station 86, Structure fire 2879 Sepulveda 2879 Sepulveda,"

Again the every member of the team responded but Hank was still most amazed at the response of his newest team member, the one with four legs. As he acknowledged the call and hurried to his spot on the engine Hank made mental note to only refer to his Chet as Kelly as he gave commands.

They could see the smoke rising above the trees a good four blocks before they turned onto the right street. Hank ordered Squat 51 to make the hydrant and set up duels. Flames leapt out three of the ground floor windows and climbed up the side of the house,

A Woman came running from the garage and Captain Stanley took her by the shoulders as she coughed and tried to catch her breath.

"Is there any one else in there?" Was Hanks first concern.

"NO, cough, cough, my husband's at work and my two children are at school. It's just me and the cat, Cough, cough, I don't understand what happened, Cough, cough, I was just spraying some stuff to kill the spiders around the water heater and the stuff caught fire and everything just went puff."

"That will do it," was all Hank had time to explain before he handed his victim off to the paramedics and started directing the second crew in and requesting another engine to help them out. Engine 86 come in from the south and pull two inch and a halves to the rear of the house.

Then neighbors were gathering around as the firemen tried to maneuver the hose with out tripping them. School had just let out and the school building was only three blocks away. The children raced to see the fire with fascination and morbid curiosity. Hank knew he had a secret weapon for that.

"Chester B." Two heads snapped to attention and listened for the next command, "Crowd Control, Kelly get an inch and a half and you and Lopez move in through the front door, Gage get another one and you and I will go in through the garage.

Mike watched out of the corner of his eye as one uniformed Dog managed to push the crowd back by running back and forth and barking like he meant business. When the police arrived to give him a hand they to were surprised but the shortest member of the firefighting team.

"I thought you guys had a taller height requirement than that." One police officer joked as he added his authority to that of the Chester B. The firemen were making great progress on the fire when a propane tank stored in the garage exploded knocking several fire men to their knees. When Hank looked up to see if everyone was alright he saw his newest team member looking also.

He was next distracted by the sound of a screaming child and looked to the sound to find a young girl running toward the burning home being stopped by a dog taking hold of her blouse in his mouth. "Muffin's in there, I want my muffin," the girl cried as one of the police officers came to the dogs aid and physically picked the girl up and carried her to safety and she continued to call for Muffin.

"Good Boy," Hank muttered under his breath, he now knew what the name of the cat was and that it was loved by at least one member of that household, but he couldn't risk any of his men's lives to go look for it.

Hank was able to turn his attention back to the fire at hand and with everyone working together it was soon under control and not long after that, out. While his men were overhauling the debris to make sure there were no embers to start the fire burning again once they left, Hank took in the scene and checked with his paramedics who were treating the mother of the home for minor burns and smoke inhalation as she cradled her two children. The little girl was still crying uncontrollably for her kitty, Muffin.

As Hank tried to think of something to say his thoughts were interrupted buy a series of quick barks. Looking to see what Chester B the four legged was trying to tell everyone he noticed that the barks came in three separated by a pause, the dog was behind the engine from him so Hank excused himself and walked around to see what was going on. Standing at the base of the tree barking was Chester B.

"What is it boy?" Hank inquired and noticed the dog go into a quick point. Following the line from the dog's tail to his nose and beyond Hanks sight was directed to the upper branches of the tree that offered shade to the front of the house they had just extinguished. There in the branches was on very small, very frightened Kitty cat.

Before Hank could decide if he wanted to order his men up the tree, Kelly and Lopez were at his side with the ladder over their shoulders. As the ladder was being raised to the proper height Hank took command, "You two better go up together, that cat looks pretty shook up." Then he looked down at his panting team member. "Why don't you take Chester B's turn out up with you, it will be the perfect thing to bring the cat back down in."

"Hey Cap, that's a great Idea," Chet the two legged replied."

Hank helped to remove the dog's special turn out coat and handed it to Marco who was to take the lead up the ladder. Hank then looked at the dog and commanded, "Go get cooled off," while pointing to the engine. "Stoker, hose him down," Hank further commanded as he took hold of the ladder to keep it stable while his men climbed the tree to get the cat."

While Marco and Chet Kelly were climbing up the tree carefully trying not to spook the kitten higher or to limbs that they couldn't get to, Mike used a slow trickle of water out of the real hose to cool off the dog.

The Captain from 86's stepped up to Hank, "What's with the pooch in uniform?"

Hank smiled at his counterpart and knew he was about to make him jealous. "He's an accredited fire dog out of Oregon working with my station on TDA," Hank spoke with an unbelieving smile as he held the ladder for his men.

"You expect me to believe a dog is on a Temporary Duty Assignment?"

"Believe what you want, but I'm telling you he's a trained credentials and badge carrying fire fighter." Hank looked up the ladder to check the progress of his men. "You're welcome to check it out yourself as you can see he is in uniform."

86's Captain could see across the distance that there was indeed a badge pinned to the unusual but official looking uniform across the dog's back.

"How on earth did you get this assignment?" the captain shook his head and grinned back at his counter part.

"Just lucky I guess," Hank answered and looked up in surprise as Marco slowly and easily picked up the cat from the branch it was standing on and in three attempts managed to get it in the turn out bag. Working together they got the buckles closed and Chet was starting down the ladder holding the handles on the back of the turn out with one hand as he moved down.

By the time the two firemen reached the ground again the kitty had managed to poke its head out through the neck opening of the uniform and was looking around. From the base of the tree the two firemen carried the turn out bag with the kitty in it over to the crying little girl.

"Looky what we found," Chet, the human, announced their arrival to the group on the treatment blanket. Chet then knelt down next to the girl in her mother's arms and asked, "This wouldn't by any chance be Muffin would it?"

The little girl turned around and wiped her eyes, she then reached out to take the cat from the bag when Chet stopped her, "Let's pet the kitty and calm her down a little before we take her out of the bag."

Totally surprised Chet was nudged by his namesake to get in and give the Kitty's head a lick. The first time the cat hissed at the very large dog, but the second time the cat just let it happen.

"This Doggy likes kitty's," the little girl was surprised as she pet the kitty with one hand and the dog with the other while Chester B was introduced and it was explained that he had found the kitty and told them so they could get it.

This was the film that was shown on three different news stations and the picture that graced the front page of the morning paper.

The Press were now alerted to some of the wonders of Chester B and they wanted to know more.


	5. Chapter 5

Chester 5

The crew arrived back at the station just as the Girl Scout group arrived for their tour. Hank hadn't assigned a tour guide because according to his books the Scouts were scheduled to come tomorrow. Somewhat flustered Hank ran through the duty assignments. The Squad wasn't back from the hospital yet Marco was assigned cooking detail and Mike still needed to check on the replacement hose nozzles, that left, "Chet will you take care of the tour?"

A quick yap was his answer and Hank slapped his forehead suddenly remembering his guest team member and his slip of tongue.

"I'll give him a hand," Chet Kelly responded to his captain's look with a smile, "the girls just might need someone to translate." At that moment it was clear that he was enjoying his captain's predicament and Hank was glad he was seeing the humor in it.

At the end of the tour Hank was sure the girls knew a lot more about the dog than they did about the engine but he hoped that the excited barks helped drill some of the safety information into the girl's brains.

"Bye Chester B," each and every one of the girls called sweetly and waved to the dog as they left and Chet seemed to be enjoying the attention as if it was directed at him.

Marco called that dinner was ready but the tones sounded before everyone was in the kitchen.

"**Engine 51 trash fire behind the Arcade 2416 Alameda, 2416 Alameda." **

"Engine 51, 10-4 KMG365," Captain Stanley acknowledged the call then jogged to his place on the engine noticing Chester B was already in place and Chet and Marco were already fastening the buckles over his back. "That's the same place we were called to earlier; we must not have gotten it all the way out the first time." Hank called loud enough that all of his men could hear. There was no blame being cast, that was understood, only informing them that they needed to be extra sure this next time and be looking for evidence of Arson.

When the engine arrived this time there were no customers corralled in the parking lot like they were before, they did however notice the three news vans and the truck known to belong to one of the local newspaper reporters in the parking lot with their people and camera's ready to go.

Rounding the building they were quick to see the flames. This time it was behind the business next door to the Arcade, a cleaning business. Again the flames were fully involved only this time so was the roof of the stores storage room.

"LA Engine 51 we're on scene, we have a building involved, request an additional battalion be responded to our location," Hank called in using the handy talkie as Lopez started spraying water on the fire with the real line while Kelly started hooking up the one and a half. As Hank looked past the engine he noticed the alley behind the strip mall becoming blocked with reporters and Cameras. "LA Engine 51, Advise additional units to enter from the north east of the strip mall."

"Chester B, Crowd control," Hank called out knowing that was the only way to keep the media back. He also knew that's what they all wanted. But most of all Chet needed a little help on the inch and a half.

As Hank stepped in to back up Kelly with the fully charged hose he could only keep track of Chester B by his barking but one quick glance in his directions found several camera's focused on him while he ran back and forth in front of all the new men barking at them ferociously enough to keep them at a safe distance.

Before they noticed any results from the water they were applying the back door of the store burst open and the store manager ran out carrying a fire extinguisher and coughing from the smoke.

Chet quickly leaned into the hose bracing himself for control, because he knew that what his captain needed to do next was go to the victim and guide him to safety.

Feeling his line man move for control, Hank patted his shoulder then ran to the manager's side aiding the coughing man to the engine where Mike was pulling the oxygen tank from the compartment.

"The fire's coming through the roof, cough, cough, in the storage room, cough, cough, the shelves are clear full of bottles of ammonia and bleach and the heat is starting to melt the plastic bottles," the manager informed.

"Is there anyone else in there?" Hank asked, the guy grabbed at the oxygen mask being handed in his direction and pulled it to his face while shaking his head then after a couple of deep breaths he pulled the mask away, "I sent them all out the front door before I went in with the extinguisher."

"Mike, start passing out air masks and mule a line back to the hydrant." Hank then pulled his handy talkie to his mouth, "LA, Engine 51 advise additional units that we have ammonia and chlorine gasses present and dispatch a Squad and an ambulance to our location."

"Chester B! Pull a line," Hank screamed and watched as the Dog came running on command, he also watched the media camera's follow the dog's movements as it jumped on the back of the engine and took hold of a hose and started to pull while Hank watched the pump gages and the victim until Mike returned from hooking up to the hydrant.

"Charge that other line," Hank called knowing it was going to be another three minutes or more until the next engine arrived and he had his hands full. He was just going to Kelly's relief so that he could get his air mask on when there was an explosion. The first one knocked them off their feet the next two kept them down.

Hank watched as Kelly's hose went wild and started to roll onto his elbow to get up to take care of it when he felt a steady pull on the collar of his turn out coat. Looking back to see who was pulling him away he was surprised to his thigh high firefighter, Chester B.

Those were the pictures that were inside the evening paper to go with the rest of the news story about the unusual fire fighter.

Hank scanned the scene to see that Lopez was getting the hose under control and Kelly was on his knees helping him wrestling with it.

Mike relieved Chester of Hank's collar and helped him back to his feet, "Are you okay Cap?"

"Yeah, fine, get that other line charged, Chester B, get those people back and keep 'em back.

Hank hurried to the other line as the flattened hose plumped into a round handful of fire suppression power.

The fire was just starting to succumb to their efforts when the next engines arrived. Before they left they called in a fire investigation team. Two fires in the same day at the same strip mall was something to be suspicious about.

When the crew of station 51 returned to their station they found the driveway blocked by cars and vans sporting the logos of nearly every media outlet in the valley.

"All right Mike lets keep driving here," Hank instructed before looking behind him and advising, "Let's keep Chester B down back there." He then picked up the radio mic. "LA this is engine 51, be advised we have a collection of media vehicles blocking the station, request police assistance and contact with public relations. We are currently driving around the block awaiting further instructions."

"10-4 51 standby," Mike continued to drive past the station and to the next light when, "51 public relations asks if you know what the media's interest is?"

Knowing the said media had department frequency scanners in each of their vehicles Hank took a deep breath and thought for a second before responding. "Not certain but suspect they are interested in the TDA to our station, recommend you contact Chief McConnike for further details."

One heavy traffic packed drive around the block and the police were on scene clearing the way to the station bay. It was also noticed the car assigned to public relations officer Dick Friend and the Chief car, so Hank instructed his engineer to back the engine into the station.

The squad wasn't back from the hospital yet so a radio call was sent out advising them to precede with the safety inspections before returning.


	6. Chapter 6

Chester 6

Hank nearly held his breath until the bay doors were completely down. Once the door was in firm contact with the floor he let out a sigh and turned to his men. "Go get something to eat."

Hank was the last one down from the engine but as soon as his feet were on the floor he heard the distinct sound for four booted feet coming to his side.

Hank reached down to rub the dog's head as he looked towards the front of the engine to see his chief looking him over.

"You better be sure to tell your friend that he needs to get here first thing in the morning. Any more time than that and he'll find us unwilling to let him have his dog back," Hank smiled.

Chief McConnike shared a snorting smile and motioned toward the office. Hank and Chester followed.

Once in the office Hank pulled the blinds back and checked the collection of media personnel gathering near the front of the building near the flag pole.

"I told then I'd give them a statement," Dick responded when Hank turned a questioning eye toward him. "I should have waited until I talked to the Chief here before I did that though."

"Probably, but why do you say that they're clearly not going to leave us along until they get something and we can't have them following along on the calls." Chief McConnike responded as he sat on the corner of the desk and looked down at the dog that was lying on the floor at Captain Stanley's feet. Lying still but ready to jump into action at the slightest signal. "Why can't we just take Chester B here out and let them take a bunch of pictures of him and then send them on their way?"

"WE can't do that," Dick spoke quickly and in a tone that got their attention. "He's not our dog, and we don't have his owner's permission to put him in front of a camera."

"So you're saying we need parental consent for him to be on TV?" the Chief tried to simplify the terms for his own understanding.

"Then we could be in big trouble," Hank paled slightly and slid into a chair, "This dog has been well filmed today, he's gotten a lot of attention at the last two fires we've rolled on. Not to mention he pulled me back toward the engine after I was knocked down by an explosion in an area where we had chlorine and Ammonia gasses we were dealing with. Does this dog have an air mask somewhere we should be using?"

"Well let's make sure I understand the situation here." Dick finally took his hand away from his chin. "You're dog sitting because the family member who was taking care of the dog is in the hospital, but you can't just tie him up because he will actually hurt himself trying to respond in the siren goes off. And this was told to you by the owner who is fully aware and has given permission for the dog to roll with you?"

"Right so far," Chief McConnike spoke up.

"Well, then if he's filmed while performing the duties his owner agreed to, then that's alright but we still can't show him in a press conference, and they probably want more than to just see him sitting in front of a fire engine or station any way. Do you think your friend would be willing to do a press conference with the dog tomorrow when he comes to get him?" Dick was clearly thinking out loud.

"Probably, that's what he's giving presentations about at the conference he's at," The Chief responded.

"As far as the air mask, I'll check into it but I doubt it, if your dealing with that kind of thing just make sure he's assigned to crowd control." The chief directed his comment to Hank.

"I did, In fact that's where I've tried to keep him for the most part, I don't want him to get hurt before we give him back." Hank spoke to the friend of the dog's owner.

"He is trained to respond to certain situations with out a command," Chief McConnike informed everyone in the room. "Rodger said that he's a natural at a fire, like he's the reincarnation of a firefighter who still has smoke in his veins."

"Well I'll go out and talk with the press and see if I can get them to back off, I better make sure they know the rules about following the engine on a response too." Dick gave a glum look out the window then moved toward the door to talk with the press.

"Chief," Hank stopped the chief from following to ask him a question, "What if he does get hurt," pointing to the Dog, "What am I supposed to do about it, where am I supposed to take him?"

"I think I had better be getting you some answers to those questions." "So it got pretty hairy out there today hum?"

"WE had a fire in the storage room of a store that deals with cleaning supplies, they had both bleach and Ammonia stored there and the bottles were melted and the contents mixed." Hank knew he didn't have to say more.

"That's pretty serious stuff. Are your men alright?"

"I got them in air masks as soon as possible and when we left, none of them had any complaints but I would like to go talk with them again and make sure, problems can arise as much as 24 hours after breathing in that stuff."

"Yeah you go check on your men and when your medics get back have them give their lungs a listen to and check them over, while you do that I'll get on the phone and find out where you take Chester B here if he should need attention."

As Hank stepped out of the office his shadow was quickly at his side, it was nice having a dog so well behaved with out having to do the training but the dogs safety was also a great burden.

As Hank walked into the kitchen to check on the well being of his men he realized that the well being of the dog weighed just as much on his mind. As Hank was looking over his men he found them eating as if they hadn't eaten in days and joking amongst themselves as if they hadn't a care in the world.

Once he was sure his men were breathing easily so did Hank and soon found himself sitting at the table to eat along with them. Chester B took his cue and ate a little himself then lay on the floor next to the door and relaxed.

By the time they were clearing the table Chief McConnike walked in, "Dick's out there trying to convince them to go find Rodger at the convention and get him to tell them all about his dog but I'm afraid there's a good chance at least some of them are going to be in your rear view mirror on your next run. I've talked with the police officer out there and they're aware that they need to watch them."

With that unwanted information given the Chief handed Hank a small piece of scratch paper and before he could read it the tones sounded.

Station 51, traffic accident with injuries 5678 vine street, 5678 vine street.

While the crewmates of Station 51 moved to their places, including one with four legs, Hank stuffed the piece of paper he had been handed into his shirt pocket and acknowledged the call before joining his crew.

As they pulled out of the bay Hank was aware of several cameras aimed at the engine and he had no doubt that they were focused in on Chester B as Kelly and Lopez buckled up his coat for him.

They were three blocks from the accident scene when Mike got his captain's attention and pointed to the side mirrors. Hank followed his prompting and looked.

"Well it looks like the police managed to give us a two block head start," Hank described what he was seeing then professionally turned his attention on the rescue at hand.

At first sight they were glad the paramedic unit had beat them there. There was one car involved that had rolled on to it's top after striking a tree and veering off on an incline that caused it to roll. On the street was boy in his mid teens with a bicycle on it's side about five feet away.

Before they reached the car Hank observed Roy working on the Teen in the middle of the road while Johnny was on his stomach half in the car half out.

As the engine was slowing to a stop Hank swung out of the cab and hurried over to Johnny, "What can we do to help?"

"Can I hand this little girl out to you, she doesn't look too bad she had her seat belt on," Johnny directed as he handed a girl about four years old past himself to his captain. She was scared and crying but Hank carefully lifted her into his arms and handed her off to Mike who was waiting for his instruction.

"Cap," Johnny called for attention, "I'm going to need a back board and a C collar and the driver's door pried open." "You better check with Roy he might need some help there were two boys on bikes that pulled out in front of this car."

"Che- a, Kelly, get a back board and C- collar and the pry bar and give John a hand here." Hank managed to catch himself. He looked around and noticed there were only a couple of bystanders and they were staying back so he had no reason to put his newest crewmember on crowd control this time.

Jogging over to see what Roy might need, Hank was aware that his shadow was right behind him and a quick glance left him with the impression that the dog was just begging him for an assignment.

"Don't Move!" Roy called out to the second teen laying on the road as soon as Hank was near, "Just lay still, some one will be there to help you in just a minute."

"What have you got here Roy?"

"This one's got a head injury and a nasty cut on his leg, possible broken bones, I'm still trying to get the bleeding under control so I can check him out. That boy has a nasty bump on his head and is confused and disoriented but I can't find any other injuries."

"How can we be of help?" Hank long ago leaned that when I came to medical his best move was to follow his medics' instructions.

"If I can get it I could use someone to hold presser on this bleeder so I can get vitals and someone to sit on that kid over there and keep him down," Roy gave Hank his answer.

"Marco," Hank stood and called out then with the wave of a hand informed Marco that Roy needed his help before moving on to the other boy and literally pressing the confused boy's shoulders into the pavement.

As the boy continued to fight Chester B worked his way very carefully over the boy's legs and lay on him just above the knees, and the dog was big enough to keep the boy for thrashing yet small enough not to hurt him.

"Good Boy" Hank called out as he continued to hold the boy's shoulders and talk to him in an effort to calm him down.

When the ambulance arrived Roy was able to instruct the ambulance attendants to place the boy Hank was holding on a back board and tie him down and they marveled at the dog that quickly got off the boy as soon as they sat the back board down at his side and then when they had rolled the boy onto the back board the dog was quick to hand them the straps to tie him down with.

"Good Dog," the attendant praised as he took the strap from the dogs mouth. Then he looked at the captain. "What are you guys trying to do replace us with trained dogs?"

Hank laughed at the remark then replied, "Would you believe I'm just babysitting him?"

With the two boys loaded in the first ambulance and on their way along with Roy, Hank turned his attention back to the car and John Gages patients.

The mother had been removed from the car and over by the engine where she wouldn't get wet as Marco washed the gas away; Chet was helping the medic by tightening the straps on the back board while Johnny gathered a new set of vitals and then turned his attention to the little girl that Mike had been holding.

"MY baby, I want my baby," the little girl cried as John checked her pupils and palpated her head looking for any injury.

"It's her doll, I'm sure it's in the car." The mother commented being slightly traumatized by her daughter's cries.

"How's everything going here?" Cap asked as he squatted down next to his remaining paramedic.

"Everything's under control Cap," Johnny replied as he moved his hand down the crying little girl's back, totally checking her over for any injuries. "These people are really lucky, they were both wearing their seat belts and neither of them are seriously hurt."

"Those boys just came flying over the top of that car there, right out in front of me and I swerved to miss them." The mother sobbed as her daughter continued to cry for 'her baby' and struggle against John's arms to get up and go back to the car.

Hank stood up and looked at the car the woman had directed him to and saw that there was a piece of plywood leaned up against the hood to form a ramp and he understood completely what had happened.

That's when he heard his Medic, "Chet will you go get this girl's doll."

Hank quickly turned his attention back to the scene at his feet and sure enough before Chet Kelly could make a move, Chester B was galloping off toward the car.

"You forgot to specify which Chet there John," Hank snickered and John could only give an embarrassed grin before he went back to his work.

Hank then headed over to the car as he watched the dog get down on his stomach and crawl into the open window. When Hank was there he knelt down and watched as the dog carefully moved a book off of the doll first then ever so tenderly picked the doll up and scooted back out. Hank started to reach for the doll but changed his mind and let his newest crewmember present the doll to its owner who quickly wrapped her arms around the doll while it was still in the dog's mouth and pulled it to her chest as Chester B let go.

It was starting to get dark when the second ambulance left with the last of the patients and Hank started to worry about the shortest of his crew. Not sure if he could be seen by the drivers that were passing by he called out.

"Kelly you take the squad in, Lopez will you take care of Chester B and keep him out of the road." 


	7. Chapter 7

Chester 7

At the station, dinner had just finished and Chester B lay stretched out on the floor not far from Hank's feet. He was in absolute heaven thanks to the presentation of the bone from the roast that was served to the rest of the men.

"It seems only fair to fix something that he could enjoy too," Mike commented when he was asked about the extravagant meal.

Hank watched the dog work over the bone and smiled then turned to his paramedics, "John, could you go to what ever locker you assigned to our visitor here and get his owner's manual. I need to figure out how to set up his turnouts and get him settled in for the night."

"Sure Cap, I guess this is a little different than when we came to the station. We didn't come with an owner's manual," Johnny joshed with his captain.

"Yeah, well it would have been nice if you had, then it wouldn't have taken me so long to figure out how to keep you in line," Hank joked back.

He didn't want to go get the manual himself because he knew the dog would have followed him and he wanted to let him enjoy the bone he was chewing on. As much as he marveled at the assistance this dog gave to the team, he was still burdened by the knowledge that this team member was someone's pet. Hank intended to make sure he was safe and well when he was returned.

"That's because you weren't 'Captain trained' when you got here Gage," Kelly jumped at the chance to say something to his favorite Pigeon.

"If I remember right you didn't come with an owner's manual either, Che- ah, Kelly," John grinned back then added just as he left he room, "We're all still trying to help 'station train' you."

Giggling at his partner's remarks Roy turned his attention to his Captain with a smile on his face. "So what about it Cap, would you like to have a dog like Chester B at the station all the time? With a different name that is."

Hank looked at his senior paramedic and then back at the dog, "I don't know, He has his place, I guess, but it feels a lot like that time that your daughter rode to Rampart with you in the squad and then you had to stop at a traffic accident. Just like Jenny was then, Chester B is a big help, but half of my attention is focused on trying to make sure he doesn't get hurt. At least I know you guys will try and stay out of trouble, and when you can't you look out for and take care of each other."

"Yeah, I see what you mean," Roy acknowledged, "I remember how I felt before you got there and it was just me and her with all those victims. As proud of her as I was, I was sure afraid she was going to get hurt."

Roy didn't have to say anymore they had all been there and just like the dog chewing his bone on the floor, Jenny would jump with joy at the chance to do it all again.

"Here you go, Cap," John handed the notebook over as he hurried back into the room just as the tones sounded calling the Squad to a woman down call.

Hank led his paramedics out the door and acknowledged the call before handing over the call slip with the address on it through the driver's window.

Once the squad was out the door and the button had been pushed to close it, Hank turned around and realized he didn't have his shadow behind him. Shocked that the dog wasn't at his heels, Hank stuck his head back in the door looking to the spot he had last seen the dog. There was an abandoned bone, but no dog. That's when he felt a tap on his shoulder and looked to see Mike smiling at him like he had several times earlier that day. Once Mike had his attention he pointed to the engine where a dog was waiting for someone to buckle his turnout over his back.

Chester B turned his helmeted head to his Captain with his shinny black orbs showing nothing but total confusion. Hank turned back to Mike and shared his smile then walked over to the engine to help the dog get out of his turnouts.

"Whoa there boy, that call's not for us," Hank talked to the dog as he climbed up on the engine. "Let's get you out of there now." Hank reached up and pulled the front paws out of the turnout sleeves, when he proceeded to the back paws Chester B reinserted his front paws back into the front sleeves.

An uncontrollable snicker from the bay that turned Hank's attention to his other Chester just as his laughter brought on a cough.

"You okay there Kelly?" Hank inquired with concern. He had been watching everyone for problems since the Chlorine gas exposure earlier today.

"Just swallowing something wrong while trying to stop laughing," Kelly responded as he let the reserved laughter escape.

As the three men giggled at the Captain's attempt to undress the dog, who clearly didn't want to be undressed, Chet came up with a suggestion. "I think there must be a specific command for that sort of thing Cap. Maybe you should just take a minute to read the book."

Hank sat on the step to the crew compartment of the Engine and watched his men for a moment, especially Kelly, but like the man had said he looked fine. Hank then opened the book and started turning the pages looking for a list of commands he remembered seeing earlier.

"Uh hum," Hank nearly groaned before looking back at his newest crew member. He then climbed down from the engine and headed for the break room beckoning his men to follow him.

"Are you just going to leave him out there?" Kelly questioned with a noticeable amount of disapproval.

"According to the book," Hank motioned with it as he sat down, "Once that alarm goes off, including wake up tones, he's ready to go. As long as there is a uniformed firefighter around he won't get off the engine with out being physically carried. The owner recommends just walking away and if he doesn't eventually follow there will eventually be a call and he'll be waiting and ready."

"What if it's a slow shift and he stays there all day?" Mike asked with a giggle in his voice.

"It say's here that if it becomes a problem we can take his uniform off and tell him to stand down, but that he'll mope around as if he's been beaten and if we do get a call before he's redressed he'll respond any way, but we won't have time to put on his protective gear."

The men snickered more and shook their heads, but Chet Kelly kept a watchful gaze on his namesake to see what he would do.

Cap continued to look through the book for instructions concerning the dog at night. Before he found what he was looking for, the men heard the distinctive sound of four fire boots walking across the bay.

The dog stayed in the bay and looked into the room sticking his head around the corner as if he was ashamed to come in and everyone nearly burst out laughing once again. Nearly, but not quite.

Hank smiled and called the dog to his side where he scratched his ears and pointed him in the direction of his bone, then went back to reading.

When Hank sat the book down on the table Mike was at his side. "So how do we set him up for the night? Johnny was telling me that those boots of his aren't all that easy to get on."

"It doesn't really say," Hank answered, "At least not specifically about his uniform at night. It does say that being in uniform indicates to him that he's on duty and he behaves differently while he's wearing it then he does when it's off. It also says he's trained to sleep on the floor and to make sure he's out of the way we need to place a blanket on the floor to show him where to sleep. That solves one problem I was worried about."

"What's that?" Mike was genuinely confused.

"I've been afraid of tripping on him or kicking him if we get a call in the middle of the night." He looked at Mike, "It's a given he's going to be sleeping at the side of MY bunk."

Mike and Marco smirked in understanding as Hank got up to go find a blanket and decided where he was going to bunk down his crewman.

With the blanket set up in a safe place, Hank was just about to suggest his men get ready for bed when the tones sounded calling them out to a gas leak at a private residence. When they arrived they found a woman with two very small children in her arms standing on the curb with a boy of about eight years of age at her side.

Hank was quick to get out and go to the woman as Mike got the engine in position. "Can you tell me what's happening Ma'am," Hank questioned.

"My nephew here was in the basement practicing some kind of swing with my husband's golf clubs. I was bathing the twins and getting them ready for bed, I thought he was watching TV. Anyways, he came running into the bathroom and told me he had accidentally hit one of the pipes in the basement and it started hissing. It smells like gas."

"Alright Kelly, you and Lopez find the turn off valve. Mike, you watch the kids and get Chester B's turnout off. I like the reflective tape on his uniform better for this time of night."

Hank grabbed the dog's leash that was wedged behind the seat cushion in the crew department. It wasn't attached to the dog's collar just on hand in case it was needed.

"Give me your hand Mike," Hank instructed his engineer and when Mike questioningly held his hand out Hank slapped the lease into it, "Alright there Chester B, you listen to him now."

"If you need him, give him the command 'crowd control,' otherwise, just keep him off of the road. Let him help you with the kids." Hank then turned to the woman who was setting her two pajama clad twins, who looked about 18 months old, down on the ground.

"Ma'am, can you show me where the pipe was hissing?" Hank inquired.

Together, Hank and the mother walked into the house while Mike coaxed the children to sit down and let them pet Chester B while he took his turnout bag off and tossed it back in the engine. When he turned back to concentrate on the children, Mike found the dog laying down with both of the twins snuggling into him like two puppies getting dinner from their mother. Smiling Mike then turned to the older nephew and started showing him the engine. Mike even let the young boy wear his helmet as he kept him entertained until the captain returned about ten minutes later.

"I think you'll be alright now, but you'll need to call the gas company in the morning and get that valve replaced." Hank talked in a calming manner as he and the woman walked together.

"Thank you so much," the woman praised, "I didn't know what to do and I was afraid one of the pilot lights would set off an explosion. My husband and his brother are at the ball game and won't be home until later and I just didn't know what to do."

"Well, you did the right thing. That's what we're here for. If you have any more concerns feel free to give us another call."

Hank and the woman reached the engine and he noticed his engineer was entertaining the oldest of the children but wondered, "Where are the other two?"

Mike just smiled and pointed to the grass under a tree near the back of the fire engine. Hank followed his finger and smirked as he pushed his helmet off his head enough that he could scratch the top of it.

"I told you I was getting them ready for bed," the woman explained, "That's a pretty special dog you've got there to snuggle them down like that. Is there any reason why I can't just take them and put them in their beds?"

"No everything should be alright, like I said, we had the gas turned off to that hose and all it should affect is your laundry room." Cap explained again and walked with the mother over to his dog, well temporarily his dog, and her children. As she bent over in preparation of picking one of the children up, Chester B let out a low serious sounding growl and the mother quickly stepped back.

"That dog won't hurt the children will he?"

"NO, he just doesn't know who you are, here let me get your children for you." Hank was quick to explain as well as being slightly embarrassed and maybe just a little concerned.

Carefully, Hank stepped up to the dog and for a safety measure gave the dog's ears a good scratch before carefully picking up one of the two children and with out waking him up handed him to his mother before reaching down to carefully pick up the other child.

"Here Ma'am let me help you carry the children in. Mike, call us available and load up, "We'll leave as soon as I get back.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note:

The previous chapters are reminiscent of Keata, Muffin, and Smokey, all dogs I have loved but this chapter is dedicated to Deweena, My oldest son's first dog. She was part of our family as all of the dogs in our life have been but Deweena was something a little more. She was the one who scared away all the nightmares and kept the covers in place all night long. And when my little guy with severe asthma would get in trouble during the night she was in my bed getting me up to go help him. Because I knew I could count on her to do so I was able to sleep at nights but only because I knew she was laying watch.

I feel so sorry for all the dogs that have come to our home since Deweena because they have all had to compete with her memory and try to fill the huge paw prints she left in our hearts.

Chester 8

The ride back to the station was a quiet one; at least it was after Mike gave his Captain a smirk when he climbed into the engine. They were a mile away from the station when they heard the squad called out on a possible cardiac and knew the station would be empty when they got there.

"Sounds like Roy and John are in for a long night," Hank commented to no one in particular as his attention was turned to the back crew compartment and what he thought sounded like a cough. Hank listened intently the rest of the drive to the station but there wasn't another sound so he figured that he hadn't really heard it in the first place.

Once the engine was backed into the bay, the men didn't have to be told it was lights out. They were more than ready to hit their bunks and proceeded to get their turnouts ready. Most of them already had their boots and bunker pants in place at the side of their beds but one person still needed to set his up. Hank spent a few minutes in the office finishing up the log book and completing two reports that were required of him and before he joined his men in the dorm.

The whole time Hank had been working in the office, Chester B laid on the floor at his side. When he headed for the dorm the dog was at his heels. Hank dropped his pants and sat on the side of his bunk to pull them the rest of the way off he looked at a dog sitting in front of him waiting for instructions. He realized there was one more chore that needed to be taken care of before he went to bed. He got up pulled his pants back on and took the dog out to his personal latrine.

When the two came back in Hank unhooked the leash from the dog and patted his shoulders. "Okay boy, night-night."

Hank once again dropped his pants, sat on the side of his bed to pull them the rest of the way off only to notice that Chester B had moved over to Mike's bunk. Using his nose, the dog pushed the blanket up around Mike's shoulders waking the light sleeper in the process.

Stunned by a dog tucking him in bed Mike threw a puzzled look to his captain who just shook his head and shrugged his shoulders at the dog before moving around the brick partition. Curious, Hank leaned over the foot of his bunk and looked around the partition and watched as Chester B performed the same act for the remaining men and giggled as he shook his head.

By the time Chet and Marco were tucked in, Hank was ready to climb under his covers and Chester B was there to pull them over him as he lowered his body to his pillow.

"Alright, thank you," Hank told the dog then added, "now go to bed."

Hank and Mike watched as the dog sniffed at his blanket and moved it around a little, then turning around in a circle three times before lying down and getting comfortable.

"Aren't you going to tuck him in?" Mike joked from his bunk.

"What, and make him get out of bed to tuck me back in," Hank joked back in a quiet tone, "Sounds like a perfectly good way to make sure neither one of us gets any sleep."

With smiles on their faces, the two men joined their shift mates in sleep, hoping for a quiet night. They were both comfortably unconscious when they were both awakened.

"Woof, huff, yip yip, woof woof woof, yip," they heard. It wasn't loud but it was the sound of distress and perhaps panic.

Turning toward the sound Hank could see Chester B's paws twitching and jerking as if he were running. He lay on his side with his eyes closed, his head and mouth were also jerking and the first thought that surfaced in Hanks half asleep mind was that the dog was having a seizure. Hank threw his covers off and swung his feet out of bed trying to think what to do and trying to remember what chemicals they may have gotten into during the day that may be the cause.

"I think he's having a nightmare," Mike interrupted his Captain's panic as he leaned up in bed on one elbow.

"A nightmare, but he's a dog," Hank dismissed the diagnosis, but looked at the dog again and realized that his second in command was probably right. "Do dogs have nightmares?"

"Chet? Chester," Hank called as he moved toward the dog kneeling down on the floor next to him just as he snapped to attention bringing a very alert head up to meet Hank's, "Are you okay boy?"

Chester B responded to Hank's concern by licking his face, while, "Cap, are you calling me?" was heard from behind the patrician.

"Sorry Chet, Chester B here was having a nightmare, go back to sleep," Hank apologized then he heard a couple of coughs from his lineman. "Chet are you alright? That cough doesn't sound so hot?"

"Must be from some of the smoke I've gotten into today," Chet responded sleepily, "If it's still there in the morning I'll ask John and Roy if they think I should get it checked out."

Hank could hear him turn over in bed and punch his pillow before settling in. He made a mental note to make sure John and Roy checked him out first thing in the morning. Convinced all was well, Hank made a trip to the bathroom and when he came back he found Mike with his covers a little tighter around him than usual and giggling in his bunk. He saw Chester B coming back from checking on Chet and Marco once again. Climbing back in his bunk Hank just shook his head and allowed the dog to tuck him in once again.

Hank was next awakened by the sound of the bay door opening and lay in bed listening to see if his paramedics needed him. It wasn't long before he heard them tip toeing into the dorm pulling their shirts off as they moved and Hank took note of the four legged night watchmen following them to their bunks.

"Hi boy," he heard Johnny whisper and knew he was talking to the dog. "Do you need to go out?"

The dog gave a quick quiet, "woof."

"He's waiting to tuck you and Roy in," Hank stopped what he was sure was a very tired paramedic from taking the dog out again. "Just go to bed and let him then he'll leave you alone."

Two paramedics exchanged tired and puzzled glances but proceeded to slip under their covers and watched in amazement as the dog took hold of a corner of the blanket and pulled it over them. Using his nose, Chester B pushed the blanket snug around them before wandering over to do the same for Marco and then Chet.

John leaned his head up to watch the actions propping it up with his arms. Marco fidgeted and rolled over at the attention but Chester B only waited for him to stop moving before he continued to snug the blankets in. Chester B moved to his doppelganger and proceeded to tuck him in.

Chet didn't even move at the attention. When the dog was done he sat on the floor next to the bed and watched. John looked on as Chester B placed his paw on Chet's back after a moment he rested his head on Chet's side. The dog lifted his head and started pushing with his paw. Just as John was starting to get a little worried, Chester B started barking, not the quiet woofs like before but loud and quick three barks at a time then a brief pause and three more.

Johnny was sure something was wrong, REALLY wrong. He flew out of his bed and towards the lineman across the isle. He didn't even take time to pull on his bunker pants as he responded to his crewmates needs in his t-shirt and boxers. Before Roy could pull on his pants John had managed to roll Chet over and was sitting him up.

"What's going on?" Hank tried to yell but found he could only muster a low volume raspy voice.

"It's Chet, the human one," Johnny called out, "He's having some real trouble breathing. I'm gonna need some oxygen and the equipment. Better call an ambulance Cap. He's in some serious trouble here."

Mike was the one who raced for the equipment as Roy moved to help John evaluate the curly-haired wonder. Johnny was holding Chet up with one arm while he checked his pulse with the other. Chester B climbed up into the bed and sat behind Chet to give his human counterpart a chest to lean on as he tucked his nose over Chet's shoulder to pull him back.

Hank called in a silent alarm and ordered an ambulance before checking to see that the doors were open. He leaned on the patrician next to Chet's bunk, "I was afraid of this. We got into a chlorine and ammonia gas explosion earlier."

Roy and John noticed the change in Cap's voice and that he was a little more winded than he should be. Mike lay the oxygen down and handed the mask across the bed to Johnny who quickly put it over Chet's mouth, mustache and nose.

"What about everybody else?" Roy questioned as he led Cap to sit down on the foot of his bed and started counting respirations.

"I'm no where near as bad as Chet and Cap, but my chest is a little tight," Marco reported as he sat at the side of his bed slowly slipping into his turnouts.

"I'm breathing all right," Mike reported, "But I've got a whopper of a headache."

Roy went over to the mic and announced that they had a Code I times four.

"You better make that times five," Cap called out, "The dog was there too. We're going to have to get him checked out."

Mike retrieved the oxygen from the engine before setting up communications with Rampart and relaying the information Roy and John called out to him. The paramedics were ordered to start IV's all the way around, even one on Mike, as he sat on the floor leaning up against the foot of Kelly's bed, running the biophone with his other hand.

John was clearly worried about the Phantom as he offered a calming hand hold while the Bronco Dilators kicked in, but even then the improved breathing was still labored.

"Where is it that we need to take Chester B, Cap.?" Mike questioned taking his roll of second in command as Roy was monitoring the Captain's breathing.

"This time of night we're supposed to take him to Rampart," Cap surprised everyone, "There's no veterinary clinics in this area that are open this time of night and he is a certified Fire Fighter."

"This is going to be rather interesting." Roy commented as he looked up at the dog that was still allowing Chet the two legged one to lean against him.


	9. Chapter 9

Chester 9

The sound of sirens gathered everyone's attention as four crew members rested in the dorm with oxygen masks on and IV's running. Chet Kelly was still the worse off but even he was breathing well enough now that he was able to lean back on his doggy pillow and relax a little.

"I'll go get the doors," Roy volunteered and made sure the last IV was hung before he left his patients with his partner.

"Roy," Hank's improved but still raspy voice called out, "Bring back the leash from the crew compartment of the engine when you return."

"Okay Cap,

"John, get some pants on." Hank was sure the young man had been so wrapped up in taking care of his crew mates that he had forgotten that he just flew out of bed and hadn't pulled on his turn outs. The crimson hue of his face at the Captain's command confirmed it.

It took just a moment for John to step into his turn outs and he was back a Chet's side before he pulled the suspenders up.

"All right Chet we'll have you to the hospital in just a few minutes now just relax, slow your breathing down, that's it slow and deep." John coached then took just a quick pause to look at and watch the other two breathe; Mike's issues were not pulmonary.

Roy came back pausing at the door to the dorm just long enough to make sure the ambulance attendants were going to find their way.

"Both ambulances are here," Roy informed his captain as he slipped the leash into his hands.

The first gurney was directed to Chet, who was by far the worst off and John was forced to step out of the way to let them lift his patient onto it.

"John," Cap called as John stood to the side of him waiting.

"Yeah Cap,"

"You seem to be the most aware of the dog's treatment so far," Hank held the leash out toward his youngest paramedic, "I want you to take charge of him and see to it that he gets looked over good and treated."

"I'll do that Cap," John agreed and now that Chet was being strapped on to the gurney he slapped his leg with the leash and Chester B came off the end of the bed toward him.

"I'll take Mike with me," John informed Roy, not because he had any real preference toward Mike but because he knew the other gurney that would allow them to raise the head needed to be used for Cap and Mike needed to be moved out of the way first.

With that statement made John reached down and pulled Mike to his feet and then held on to him while Mike carried his own IV bag. John then picked up the drug box and biophone with his other arm and led the ambulance attendants out making sure the dog followed along.

Before John's group was loaded in the first ambulance Cap was being wheeled out and Roy was right behind him supporting Marco as they moved. Marco was following Mike's example and carrying his own IV Bag.

As soon as John sat his equipment down and Mike was helped by the ambulance attendant to lie down on the bench, John motioned for the dog to jump in and was pleased that he followed his commands.

John turned his attention back to Chet but watched as Chester B found an out of the way corner and sat down, taking up the least amount of space possible as the ambulance moved out toward the hospital.

"Good Boy," Johnny praised as he placed the stethoscope in his ears to listen to Chet's lungs again.

Chief McConnike rolled up just as Marco was being aided into the back of the ambulance. He raced around the ambulance to the open doors and peaked inside. "I'll lock the place up and meet you at the hospital," he called, "Where's the dog?"

"He's in the first Ambulance with his namesake," Roy answered, "He's the one that alerted us that there was a problem."

Chief McConnike let out a sigh and shook his head as he helped to shut the back doors of the ambulance and gave the double slap to send them on their way. He then shut the bay doors and gave headquarters a call telling them to get the next shift up and in early. Station 51 was out of service until they arrived.

00000

John had his work cut out for him trying to keep his friend Chet Kelly calm on the ride in. He understood that the difficulty breathing and the jittery feeling that was a side effect of the medication he had given him but he still had to keep Chet calm to keep the situation from getting worse. The four legged Chester B did his part by placing his nose on the fireman's leg and giving comforting quiet barks and sympathetic sighs and looks at the man who shared his name.

The ambulance was backed up to the receiving doors and John took the instant before the ambulance doors were open to clip the leach on his charges collar. The handle of the leash was handed to Mike while John helped to unload Chet and he was placed in the immediate care of Dr. Mike Morton, who hurried to the door when he heard the ambulance had arrived.

With two nurses at the Doctor's side John turned back to help Mike into the wheel chair that was being brought for his use and reclaimed the leash from Mike's hand.

"What's that doing here?" Mike Morton exclaimed his disapproval pointing to the four legged Chester B at Johnny's side.

"He's your fifth patient," Johnny spoke quickly and with out a single sign of apology, "Headquarters orders, he was working at the fire where these men got in trouble."

"But no body here knows anything about treating a dog, this is a people hospital." Morton exclaimed.

"Just following orders doc," Johnny responded, he had spent the ride in preparing himself for this moment and there wasn't a person there that didn't realize that he wasn't going to back down.

Thanks to the argument, before anyone was moved out of the receiving area the second ambulance backed in and Roy was quick to unload Captain Stanley. Morton turned to give him a quick evaluation only to find his next patient was still in a Captain frame of mind.

"Fire about seven hours ago, bleach and ammonia bottles in a storage room on fire the bottles melted and the chemicals mixed. I pulled the manager out and ordered masks but Chet was the last one to get his on, explosions knocked us to the ground before he got his on."

"Well that's why he's one of the worse off then, Chlorine gas is heaver than air and therefore will be thicker the closer to the ground you are." Mike Morton explained but mostly he was thinking out loud.

"The dog was there pulling us out of the blast cone during the explosions," Hank continued then started coughing, he was clearly agitated worrying about his men and the dog getting the care they needed and was taking a turn for the worse because of it. "Headquarters… in- in-structed, bring him here," Cap paused fighting to catch his breath, "they told me…told me… Vet on call,"

"Alright, alright," Dr. Morton showed a rare moment of, fair to moderate bedside manners. "Get him into a room and we'll get to him as soon as we can. I want this man on oxygen and get Dr Early, I think he's in room 6." The two gurneys were moved down the hall and Mike called out orders for medications to be administered before following with the command 'Stat' before he followed he turned back to Johnny holding the leash to keep the dog out of the way until the rest of the men were moved out.

"You can put these two men in the same room," Dr. Morton pointed to Mike and Marco who were now both seated in wheelchairs, "and, and, take the dog with them. Nurse, find the information on the Vet that's supposed to be on call and get him in here."

The Room the last three patients were led to was one in the far back of the emergency department and when they hadn't seen a medical person after 20 minutes they were feeling as if they were out of sight and out of mind.

Chester B was following John's commands as long as he was holding the leash and John was able to get him to settle down in a corner and stay there while he helped Marco up onto the treatment table and raised his head. When that wasn't enough to ease Marco's breathing John went ahead and placed him on oxygen.

He was double checking the IV flow when the door opened and Laura Stoker, Rampart's Medex and Mike Stoker's wife, stepped into the room her eyes locked on Mike as she entered.

"They tell me you guys were trying to clean up at a fire and started mixing cleaning fluids." Laura stated as she walked strait to her husband and grabbed a wrist to check his pulse as she looked him over.

"That pretty well sums it up but it was the fire that did the mixing we just added the water." Mike responded with the calmest smile he could produce for his wife in an attempt to put her at ease.

Marco let out a cough as Laura was pulling her stethoscope from her pocket and she turned her attention to him. "John, step into the hall and get me a nurse," Laura instructed as she moved over to the exam table to listen to Marco's lungs.

John did as he was told and a nurse stepped in by the time Laura was done listening to Marco's and Mike's lungs.

"I want chest x-rays and blood gases all the way around and let's get Marco here another dose of Epinephrine and a breathing treatment." Laura ordered then turned to John. "Alright Gage off with the shirt."

"What Me, I'm not a patient," John backed away with his hands up defending himself from the maniac Medex threatening to attack him with a stethoscope and blood gases.

"I was told there were three patients in here." Laura continued to back John against the wall as his two shift mates, especially Stoker, giggled.

"One, two," Laura pointed to Mike and then Marco making it clear who was number on in her life, and then she pointed at John, "Three."

"No, no, no, no," John continued to wave his hands in front of him. "One, two," he pointed at Mike and Marco then to he dog in the corner, "Three. Allow me to introduce you to Chester B."

Laura looked at the dog in the corner and then back at John before giving out an exasperated sigh.

"Look John, I know that I'm up in the night but there is no way on earth that you are going to convince me that the chemicals you guy's have been exposed to turned Chester B into a dog."

"NO, you don't understand," John continued leaning slightly toward Laura in an offensive move, "You're thinking of Chet Kelly this is Chester B they are two completely different peop—um, beings."

Marco was coughing from the laughter and Mike was laughing too.

"And they've been following each other's orders all day," Mike giggled and shook his head as he reached up with his hands and rubbed at his temples.

"Except Cap has yet to get our Chet to sit or lay down on command," Johnny added with a smirk.

Watching her husband she could tell he was in pain but she would need to consult with another Dr. before she could prescribe narcotics for him.

Laura did go to Marco's side and raise the head of his bed higher to help him catch his breath but still he kept giggling, "I guess the joke is on me. This must be the fire dog you guys are training with today."

"Yeah, It's been kinda crazy with two Chets in the station but he's, I mean the dog, is good to have around," Marco commented once Laura finally got him settles down.

"Are you saying the other one isn't good to have around?" Laura commented as she listened to Marco's lungs again.

"He's Okay, but this one's more fun," Marco nod his head toward the dog in the corner responding in a tone and with a look on his face that told Laura he was joking.

"Where's his handler?" Laura asked as she pulled Marco forward so she could listen to his lungs from the back.

"Um, well, since I've got the leash I guess I am, right now but mostly it's been Cap," John answered.

"You mean to tell me they dropped him off with out a handler?" Laura turned to John in surprise before looking to her husband for confirmation.

"His owner is at a convention and the guy's sister was watching the dog when there was a fire and the dog kind of just did what he was trained to do and the dog and the guy's sister sort of got separated." Mike explained to his wife, "He managed to stow away on the engine and road back to the station with us and then when the sister came to get him she was in an accident in front of the station. Anyway to make a long story short, the owner is a friend of Chief McConnike and it was decided that we'd watch him for the rest of the shift and the only way to do that was to let him go to work."

"So you've been working with a trained dog all day but you don't know what he's trained to do or what his commands are?" Laura rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"And he has the same name as another member of the team," Mike added knowing his wife understood the confusion of the day.

"He did come with an instruction manual," John offered up.

"That Uniform he has on, is he trained to behave depending on what he's wearing?" Laura asked.

"I think so," John answered, "they said he'd respond to a fire no matter what but the uniform has something to do with is training."

"Who's they?" Laura questioned.

"I'm not sure," John answered as the two looked back and forth from each other while the Nurse was gathering blood gases on Mike and Marco.

"I think then that it would be best if we got him out of uniform and since we want him to be a patient let's get him in a gown." Laura instructed before going to the closet and pulling out an appropriate sized hospital gown for the dog and handing it to Johnny. "You're not worried that he'll bite you are you? Most rescue dogs have a ball or stuffed animal they carry around when they're not in action to keep their mouth occupied."

"He didn't bite me earlier when I treated the burns on his feet." John responded with confidence before he knelt down next to he dog and started unfastening his uniform causing the dog to sulk as if he were being scolded or worse.

The Blood gases results came in the room in the hands of Dr. Morton as he read them over and ordered some medications based on the results before looking up.

"I know you were sent home several hours ago," Dr. Morton scolded Laura when he saw her starting to find the medications ordered for the patients.

"And I was sleeping like I was ordered to do when the Fire Department called to inform me that my Husband was being taken to the Emergency room for treatment," Laura explained.

"Oh that's right; one of these is yours isn't he." Dr. Morton looked up and noticed Mike rubbing his temples again. "That head ache getting any better?"

"Not yet," Mike admitted just as Dr. Morton noticed the dog dressed in a hospital gown and turned placing his hands on his hips.

"Aren't we pushing this patient thing a little too far?" Morton then turned to the nurse, "Have we been able to get a hold of that veterinarian that's on call?"

"Sorry doctor but we haven't been able to find any information about a veterinarian on call," The Nurse responded.

"It's in Brackett's office, taped to the inside of the door." Laura spoke up as she helped her husband over to a gurney where he could lay down before his pain meds knocked him out. "I heard Dr. Brackett tell Dr. Morrison about it when he came on."

"Morrison has been in surgery most of the night, an auto pedestrian accident that's a real mess." Morton was again thinking out loud more than anything, "GO find someone to get the information and then get back here." Dr Morton instructed the nurse before giving her a list of medications to give Mike and Marco.

Mike was sleeping off his pain meds and Marco was breathing easily when the nurse stuck her head in the treatment room with a message for Dr. Morton.

"The Veterinarian Dr Smith said that he agreed to consult on treatment of the fire dog not to come to the hospital and treat him."

"You've got to be kidding," Dr. Morton Exclaimed, "We don't know anything about treating animals."

In desperation Morton looked to Laura, "Do you any experience treating rescue dogs."

"Not much," Laura answered eyeing the dog in the corner, "I worked along side them by their handlers took care of their needs. I just watched, shared supplies when we had some to share and tucked them in with their handlers so they could sleep."

"You what?" Morton asked for clarification.

"There's a reason they call them cadaver dogs," Laura offered as an explanation, "The work is hard on the handlers more so than the dog."

"Yeah, yeah, I see what you're saying," Morton spoke while he looked at the dog in the corner wearing a hospital gown. "Either way you just left me in the dust as far as experience with dogs goes would you mind working on that patient while I go check on my other patients?"

Morton then left the room and Laura gave the dog a serious look. "You hadn't better bite me or I'll bill you double."

John was able to hold the dog's head still while Laura used her stethoscope to listen to the dog's heart and lungs only to hear similar to what she heard in Marco's lungs. "It sounds like he has just a little edema. Let's get a chest x-ray on him and a, John can you help the nurse get a weight on him. We'll need it to know for sure what dosage of medications to give to him."

The nurse led John and the dog down the hall where a scale was stationed and John wrapped his arms around Chester B's four legs and pulled him to his chest and lifted him off the floor before stepping on the scale himself. Once the nurse had a weight recorded. John stepped off the scale and set the dog down before stepping back on to get his weight alone to subtract from the total weight. From there they walked to x-ray turning heads as everyone watched the dog walking down the hall wearing a hospital gown.

While Marco and Mike were resting comfortably and expecting to go home in a few hours, Dr Morton had his hands full. He had finally gotten Chet Kelly breathing well enough with the help of a little oxygen but the side effects of the drugs it had taken to reach that goal had the young firemen jittery and jerky and nearly climbing the wall.

Morton was coaching him in remaining calm when Laura walked in to the treatment room. "There seems to be a mix up on the x-rays. These are decidedly of the human Chester B not the canine."

Laura sat the x-rays in her hands on the counter before looking for and retrieving the set that had been delivered earlier.

Captain Hank Stanley was doing well physically but not knowing the minute to minute details of his men had him climbing the walls.

Dr. Mike Morton entered treatment room 8 to talk with the two men and the dog trainer. "I'd like to move all these guys into an observation room. It seems there is one fire captain that is not allowing his meds to help him relax because he can't see that all of his men are all right."

"Knowing Captain Stanley I'm surprised he hasn't demanded that before now," Laura smiled at the thought of a close family friend as a nurse came in with the replacement IV for Marco. "I'll start moving them all into the largest of the rooms as soon as Chester B here get's his bronco dilators and steroids injections."

"I just gave it to him," the nurse informed Laura as she hung the next bag of IV fluid, "Just before I came in here."

Instantly everyone in the room except the nurse doing that talking knew what had happened.

"He already had the maximum amount of drugs administered," Dr. Morton exclaimed with wide eyes.

"GO!" Laura called out as she pushed Dr. Morton toward the door, "I'll take care of things here."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chester 10**

It was a tense four hours as Chet Kelly was monitored carefully after an accidental over dose of medications meant to ease his breathing and clear up a moderate to severe case of pulmonary edema. The second doses that he received were meant for a dog that just happened to share his name and that had confused the nurse administering the medication.

For the rest of the night Chet Kelly suffered mild to moderate tachycardia, extra fast heart rate, and had to fight off hyperventilating due to drug induced anxiety. There was little the medical staff could do that wouldn't cause more problems except stay with him and talk with him; he just had to ride it through.

Knowing that what he was feeling and experiencing was a side effect of the medication and would only last a few hours was the only thing Chet could hold onto to keep from totally loosing it but even that was easier to do once he was stabilized enough to move into a room where the rest of his shift mates were able to offer some distraction and companionship.

Laura Stoker had stepped up and personally given the dog, Chester B the medication he needed to treat a mild to moderate case of pulmonary edema caused by the chemicals the whole crew were exposed to during a fire earlier in the day.

She then got a hold of the medical charts and added a piece of tape to Chester B's file that read 'The Dog', in an effort to keep another mix up from happening.

Once they were all moved into the same room the dog's leash and his control was turned back over to Captain Stanley who was suffering a mild form of respiratory compromise that mostly affecting his throat and vocal cords. He, Marco and Mike were responding well to their treatments and were expecting to go home sometime around mid morning, but Chet Kelly, thanks to a much more severe exposure to the chemicals and the overdose was looking at a day or possibly two in Hotel Rampart. For the time being the hospital staff was using the companionship of his crewmates as part of his treatment to help keep him calm till the drugs worked their way out of his system.

Chief McConnike stayed at the hospital long enough to make sure everyone was going to be alright and since Captain Stanley was one of the casualties it fell to the Chief to get enough information to fill out the incident report. He then waited long enough for John to take the dog for a bathroom break or run and then took the two unaffected paramedics back to the station to finish out their shift. There was a shortage of paramedic units in the best of times and the police department had agreed to dispatch a police car with all squad 51 calls until the next shift came in to staff the engine.

In the large observation room, Captain Stanley used his bed controls to raise the head of his bed in an effort to keep himself awake so that he could keep an eye on all of his charges but most of all Chester B. Who was content to curl up on a blanket set up for him on the floor between Hank and Chet Kelly's bed. Marco obeyed his captain's orders and slept lightly being aware of most everything that was going on in the room.

It took two doses of pain meds go get Mike's headache under control and he was out of it. His wife, the off duty hospital Medex, stayed at his side and kept a close eye on every one in the room while she watched over her husband. Every one was improving from when they were first brought in and only Chet Kelly remained on oxygen and extra monitors.

Every time a nurse came into the room she would call out the name of the person she had medication for and every time the name Chester came out Chet Kelly was very fast to point at the floor, "He's down there."

It was when breakfast was being served that an orderly came in carrying a tray and asking, "Mr. thog, or th th "He stammered looking at a piece of paper in his hand. "Chester B th the."

"That would be Chester B the Dog," Laura raised her head from the side of her husband's bed to inform the man, "He's on the floor"

The man walked around Chet Kelly's bed till he could see the dog on the floor and then sighed, "I thought this stuff looked like dog food, but you never know what's going to come out of our kitchen sometimes."

After they had all eaten their breakfast sleep won out and Hank Stanley dozed off. With Laura sleeping with her head on the bed next to her husband, that left the Chester's the only ones in the room awake, Chet Kelly because of the side effects of all the meds he'd been given, the dog, Chet was sure it was because he was uncomfortable on the floor. Chet was trying to coax him up on the bed next to him when the door opened.

"He's trained to follow instructions from the person holding the leash," Chet heard a quiet voice and turned to the door to see the Chief in plain clothes and another man at his side. "Unless no one's holding the leash then he'll obey any command that's proceeded with his name."

Roger Jackson was the same height and build as Chief McConnike only his hair was a lighter brown and he had a mustache that grabbed your attention immediately, not a bushy food duster like Chet Kelly's but a well waxed handlebar mustache that spread the full width of his face and curled up at each end.

"You must be Chester B's daddy," Hank spoke having been woken by the talking going on.

"I prefer to think of myself as his Legal Guardian," Rodger Jackson, spoke eyeing each man in the room one at a time before resting his eye's on the dog on the floor then back to the man who held the leash in his hands.

"I guess I should be taking that leash off your hands so that you can be about getting the rest you need to get well again." Rodger reached out his hand and Captain Stanley gave it a firm shake before he handed over the leash. With the leash in his hands Rodger slapped the side of his leg and Chester B eagerly came to his side to get his ears scratched.

"I sure hope he wasn't a problem for you." Rodger asked inquisitively as he continued to rub the dog's ears at his side.

"It was an honor to serve with him," Hank replied. "I couldn't believe how excited he was when we told him he was going 'on duty'," the Captain made quote marks in the air with his fingers as he spoke, "It's amazing what he can do and he's better at crowd control than most police officers."

"He does have a knack for that alright," Rodger smiled. "You'd be surprised how many things he does that he wasn't trained to do. Like tuck everyone in at night."

"Yeah, we all had to laugh at that one," Hank remembered and smiled back, "but if he hadn't have alerted us to Kelly being in trouble I think things could have been a lot worse."

"Yeah, that's another thing he wasn't trained to do. I must admit I've been grateful for that alert a few times myself, I've learned if he starts checking on my men in their sleep I need to be getting them checked out."

"I wish I'd have known that," Hank remembered the repeated tucking in of each of his men, except for the paramedics they had been out all night.

"We did have one problem with him," Hank just had to let the man know, "Allow me to introduce one of my linemen, Chet Kelly," he pointed to the man in the bed next to his before adding, "Chester B. Kelly."

Rodger's face burst with surprise then moved quickly to laughter as he moved over to shake hands with the sickest man in the room. "How on earth did you keep the two straight, I mean as far as giving commands?"

"For most of the day I had two responding to the same commands," Hank giggled then coughed once.

Rodger noticed that Chet was still fighting to stay calm and pulled a chair up next to his bed before looking around the room and then instructing Chester B. to climb up in the bed with his name sake. It was obvious that the dog calmed the man down some so Rodger just sat in the chair next to the bed and watched for a nurse so he could get the dog down quickly if one came in the room.

While the men who were going to be allowed to go home finished their IV's Cap and Rodger shared stories about the exploits of one four legged Chester B.

"I just have to ask one question," Chet Kelly took advantage of a short pause in the conversations, "Why did you name him Chester B?"

"You would want to know that now wouldn't you." Rodger saw again the humor in the names. "Well I didn't name him. He was trained by a friend of mine who is medically retired from the forest service. He messed up a leg and his back in an avalanche, well once he realized he couldn't go back to the same work but couldn't stand to do nothing he started training service dogs.

He works with the humane society and the Animal shelter in the area to find stray dogs he can work with and unlike the places that train Seeing Eye dogs he mostly trains dogs to help in other areas. Like get the paper for an elderly man who can't bend over, or help pull a wheelchair, stuff like that. He's trained a couple of dogs to work with deaf children and another for a girl who has diabetes to help alert her parents when her breath smells too sweet. One neighborhood raised money to have him train one dog to watch a boy with Asthma and alert his parents if he was having trouble at night.

Rick gets a good pension from the forest service so he only charges expenses for the dogs and he feels good because he's saving dogs that might other wise be put down.

It just so happens that there is one young man who volunteers at both the animal shelter and for Rick who is mentally handicapped. He fell in a swimming pool in the neighbor's yard when he was a kid and they pulled him out and got him breathing again but not before he suffered some brain damage. He's got the mentality of, Oh, I'd say a ten year old but he has a way with animals.

Anyway this kid's name is Chester Abrams, and there is another kid who helped out for a while named Chester Taylor and to keep them straight, they always called them Chester A and Chester T.

Well they used an old wood burning stove to keep the kennel warm and one day the fire got out of the fire box and filled the room with smoke. When they were trying to shoo all the dogs out to an outside area this one, "he motioned to the dog that was laying his head in Chet Kelly's lap, "went up next to the furnace to drag a rug that was wrapped around a litter of puppies toward the door."  
"Well Chester A, determined that he should be trained to be a fire dog and proceeded to organize fund raisers to pay for his adoption and licensing and then training. Well Rick couldn't say no and thought it only proper to call the dog Chester B after his sponsor."

Chet Kelly continued to pet his namesake and either the dog calmed him down or the meds wore off enough, most in the room thought it was a little of both, that he was finally able to drift off to sleep.

When Chet finally woke up he was feeling much better, but he was alone in a room on one of the upper floors. His crewmates had been released to go home and his lap warmer had been released too.


	11. Chapter 11

Chester Epilogue

As Chet blinked the sleep from his mind he scanned the empty room. Well it wasn't really empty. There was all the furniture one would expect to see in a hospital room including the extra bed that was currently empty.

Chet's next thoughts turned to wondering when he would get out of there himself. Shifting in his bed he noticed he was still on oxygen by nasal cannula, and still had an IV running. Breathing was a whole lot easier than he last remembered and he didn't feel nearly as panicked, which was the best part, he really was feeling like he was going to live.

Another glance around the room and Chet noticed a paperback book on the table next to his bed, open and lain face down in an effort to save the readers place. Chet also noticed the chair set next to the bed and turned so that who ever was sitting in it was close to him.

Chet searched his memories and seemed to remember dreaming of someone holding a hand on his arm and talking to him to keep him calm.

The toilet flushed in the bathroom followed by the sound of running water and then the door opened. John Gage stepped out wearing jeans and a button down shirt giving his friend and crew member a smile.

"You're awake how you feeling?" John gave one of his well known crocked smiles as he came back to the bed.

"Better, what are you doing here?"

"You were still pretty agitated and shaky from all the meds." John sat in the chair and leaned his elbows on the bed looking at Chet face to face, "Even after they sedated you, your hands and feet jerked unless someone you knew was talking to you. I agreed to stay with you until you woke up so that Marco would let his mother take him home."

"The rest of the guys alright?" Chet asked.

"Yeah, they all responded right a way to the medications, The Doc's have let them go home to rest they'll probably be back on duty next shift. I guess you were down on your knees for a while right in front of the door after the explosion. You seemed to have gotten a bigger dose of the chemicals than the rest. Then when they confused you and the other Chester B, You got a bit too much of the medicine"

"What about the dog, is he alright?"

John nod his head, "Brackett referred him to a vet he knew, who was a little more responsive than the one that was on call last night and his owner took him to get him looked over good. But before they left Mike's wife listened to his lungs again and said they sounded a lot better, so everyone's pretty sure he'll be alright."

"That's good," Chet sighed and rested back against the bed feeling grateful for his friends who were willing to sit with him. "You should have seen him John, when that store room exploded he just ran in and took a hold of Cap's collar on his turn out and pulled him away while Marco helped me up and to get control of the hose."

"So I was told," John smiled that his friend was able to start his story telling, he was clearly breathing much better than the night before.

The two firemen talked when Chet wasn't sleeping and when Chet's sister stopped by to stay with him after she was off work Chet was no longer feeling the drug induced panic he had been. John left him in the hands of his sister and when visiting hours were over she was able to go home and Chet was able to rest comfortably, at least as comfortable as possible in a hospital bed.

When Chet Kelly was released from the hospital he, reluctantly but with out complaint, climbed in the wheelchair to be driven out. When they reached the drive where he was parked until his sister could take his things to the car and then drive up to get him he was surprised to see Rodger Jackson and Chester B there waiting for him. Chester B's leash was dropped and the dog hurried over to his namesake and placed his front paws in the man's lap.

"Hey boy how you doin?" Chet asked as he excitedly rubbed the dog's neck and ears.

Rodger slowly walked over with a smile on his face. "I hope you don't mind but he tends to mope a little until he knows his team mates or back on their feet again."

Chet looked up in surprise, "But he was only on our team for one day."

"That's all it takes." Rodger responded, "You sure look a lot better than you did when I first met you."

"Feeling a lot better too," Chet responded as he continued to pet the dog, it was going to be hard to say good bye but he wasn't going to let on if he could help it. "This guy sure loves his work doesn't he?"

"That he does." Rodger stood by and slipped his hands in his pocket. "I'm planning to retired in another year and I find myself wondering how he's going to handle it."

Chet remained quiet as he rubbed the dog down and looked into his eyes. It was as if he was looking into a mirror and he put himself in the dog's place of being forced to retire while still in his prime, Or just plain being forced to retire when he still enjoyed the work.

"It's really none of my business and maybe I shouldn't say anything, but there's a captain in our area that's semi-retired. The only time he works is to cover for a Captain that's out, injured or on vacation, but if you considered that an option then you could give Chester here an occasional ride on an engine." Kelly suggested of course he also thought that maybe the man should give the dog to an active member of the fire department but he was already fond enough of Chester B that he knew it would be like giving up a child. He knew he wouldn't do it so why suggest it.

"That's an idea I haven't thought of," Rodger looked thoughtful. "I'll have to look into the possibilities and give it some thought."

"Cap tells me that headquarters here is planning to get a few dogs like him on the department." Chet continued to rub the dog energetically as his sister stood in the open door of the car waiting impatiently for him to be ready to get in.

"You mean, they're planning to get a few rescue trained dogs, it's not very likely that they'll get one quite like him. Chester here is the second dog I've handled. And I've worked along side several others. None of them were anything like Chester here, and Chester isn't like any of them."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Chet responded thoughtfully noticing the annoyed look on his sister's face. "Thanks for letting him come see me off. It was a real honor to serve with him. I hope he knows that."

"I don't know what he knows son. But he sure loves his work and takes it very seriously." Rodger reclaimed the end of the leash.

"Yeah, we could tell." Chet finally let the dog get off his lap and stood up from the wheel chair to move over to the car. "Take care of him and thanks again."

00000

Hank was kept from active duty the next shift back, the doctors still felt his throat was inflamed which wouldn't have been a problem unless he were to breath in some smoke to go with it not something a fireman could guarantee wouldn't happen on the job. But that was no problem, headquarters wanted him to sit in on a few meetings and give his opinion on the subject of rescue dogs in the department.

After telling the committee about his experiences with Chester B and the help that he gave, Hank advised that a captain not be assigned at the handler because he has so many other responsibilities. He then sat back and listened to the experts and learned that one person should be assigned as a handler and the dog should go home with him at the end of the shift. The department wanted that person to live in a home where the children were old enough to assist in keeping the dog trained and where there weren't any other dogs.

When the conditions for having a rescue dog on your shift were laid out Hank knew there wouldn't be one assigned to his shift and his emotions on that subject were mixed but mostly relieved. With all the care that a dog required it was too much like having a child working beside you and hard to take if they were to get hurt.

When the team was all back together again they still felt as if one was missing and the subject of the furry Chester B came up often, bringing many comments that they kept the wrong one.

It was the fourth shift they were all together again when they were together in the locker room getting dressed and the tones sounded. B shift had spent most of the night working an apartment fire and were dead on their feet so as soon as the tones quieted down so that his voice could be heard.

"Alright men let's move it, we're taking this one." Hank bellowed from the bay as he stepped

The accident scene looked a lit worse than it was. Two cars were spun out off the side of the road one having been pushed up against the dividing girders and both showing signs of colliding with each other, and one jackknifed oil tanker with the leaking tank on its side spreading the tar black substance all over the four lanes of the highway.

All of the occupants were out of the cars by the time the emergency crews arrived on scene. One of the drivers had a slight gash over his eye; another had a possible broken arm. Both would go to the hospital but neither needed a paramedic with them so everyone was put to work cleaning up the oil spill from the highway, a job that took several hours.

It was a miserable job but it had to be done to protect the nearby environment as well and keep other drivers from sliding around on oil slicked road and causing more accidents on this same stretch of road.

Hours later the crew of station 51 returned to their station, John Gage's stomach announced, for all to hear, that he had skipped breakfast to make it to work on time. As a group they moved to the kitchen to start the first pot of coffee for the day and see what ever was leftover in the fridge to eat.

"What's that?" someone called, Hank wasn't sure who but it was something that needed to be investigated so he turned from his original course to the office to find out what his men were trying to identify.

"What's what?"

"That," the fingers pointed to the sofa in the corner near the black board. Sitting in one corner was the most pitiful looking eyes Hank had ever seen, and being a career firefighter he had seen his share.

"It looks like a dog," someone stated the obvious. Not just any dog but a lop eared basset hound and it looked as if he had made himself quite comfortable.

Through out the day calls came in and the Crew came and went doing their job. Hank called the captain from the previous shift to see if he knew anything about the dog but he hadn't seen him before he left and none of his crew had said anything. Each time they returned to the station those sad eyes were there looking at them, melting their hearts.

Hank ordered his medics to check the dog over. "All he does is lay there, he's got to be sick."

"Either that or the laziest dog on earth."

Of course the medics couldn't find anything, Vet medicine was a little out of their area of expertise, but they did at least act out the motions.

At the end of the day the squad returned to the station and found their crewmates sitting around the common room all turned to look at the dog still lounging on the sofa.

"Well Cap, what we are going to do with him," Johnny wanted to know.

"Keep him, if the other shifts agree with it." Cap answered leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head.

Silently Hank had to agree that there was something about having a dog around, someone waiting for you when you came back from a tough run, and he was certain that this dog wouldn't be going on any alarms with them. He'd never have to worry about tripping over him or that he'd get hurt in a fire. He was no Chester B, and that was both comforting and saddening.

"So what are we going to name him?"

"Just call him Henry or something like that."

"Hey that's perfect."

'Oh know here we go again,' were the first thoughts that came to Hank's mind. "Excuse me," he managed to get everyone's attention. "DO I need to remind you that My name is Henry."

Hank thought for a minute as apologetic eyes remained focused on him. He tilted his head to take in their newest crew mate, he did sort of look like a Henry even if he had to say so himself. There wouldn't be the same kind of confusion as there had been with Chet and Chester B.

"Alright, but I don't want to hear anyone calling him Hank, and that's an order."

Author's note: yes I borrowed from the episode where we first met Henry and I probably didn't get all the dialog right. But I hope I got he spirit right and that this was an acceptable ending to the story. Let me know.


End file.
